The  Famous  Oz  Books 


Since  1900,_  when  L.  Frank  Baum  introduced  to  the  children  of 
America  THE  WONDERFUL  WIZARD  OF  OZ  and  all  the  other 
exciting  characters  who  inhabit  the  land  of  Oz,  these  delightful  fairy 
tales  have  stimulated  the  imagination  of  millions  of  young  readers. 

These  are  stories  which  are  genuine  fantasy  —  creative,  funny, 
tender,  exciting  and  surprising.  Filled  with  the  rarest  and  most 
absurd  creatures,  each  of  the  40  volumes  which  now  comprise  the 
series,  has  been  eagerly  sought  out  by  generation  after  generation 
until  today  they  are  known  to  all  except  the  very  young  or  those 
who  were  never  young  at  all. 

When,  in  a  recent  survey.  The  New  York  Times  polled  a  group  of 
teen  agers  on  the  books  they  liked  best  when  they  were  young,  the 
Oz  books  topped  the  list. 


THE      FAMOUS      OZ      BOOKS 


By  L.  Frank  Baum: 

THE  WIZARD  OF  OZ 

THE  LAND  OF  OZ 

OZMA  OF  OZ 

DOROTHY  AND  THE  WIZARD  IN  OZ 

THE  ROAD  TO  OZ 

THE  EMERALD  CITY  OF  OZ 

THE  PATCHWORK  GIRL  OF  OZ 

TIK-TOK  OF  OZ 

THE  SCARECROW  OF  OZ 

RINKITINK  IN  OZ 

THE  LOST  PRINCESS  OF  OZ 

THE  TIN  WOODMAN  OF  OZ 

THE  MAGIC  OF  OZ 

GLINDA  OF  OZ 


By  Ruth  Plumly  Thompson: 


THE  ROYAL  BOOK  OF  OZ 

KABUMPO  IN  OZ 

THE  COWARDLY  LION  OF  OZ 

GRAMPA  IN  OZ 

THE  LOST  KING  OF  OZ 

THE  HUNGRY  TIGER  OF  OZ 

THE  GNOME  KING  OF  OZ 

THE  GIANT  HORSE  OF  OZ 

JACK  PUMPKINHEAD  OF  OZ 

THE  YELLOW  KNIGHT  OF  OZ 


PIRATES  IN  OZ 
THE  PURPLE  PRINCE  OF  OZ 
OJO  IN  OZ 
SPEEDY  IN  OZ 

THE  WISHING  HORSE  OF  OZ 
CAPTAIN  SALT  IN  OZ 
HANDY  MANDY  IN  OZ 
THE  SILVER  PRINCESS  IN  OZ 
OZOPLANING  WITH  THE 
WIZARD  OF  OZ 


By  John  R.  Neill: 

THE  WONDER  CITY  OF  OZ 
SCALAWAGONS  OF  OZ 
LUCKY  BUCKY  IN  OZ 


By  Jack  Snow: 

THE  MAGICAL  MIMICS  IN  OZ 
THE  SHAGGY  MAN  OF  OZ 

By  Rachel  R.  Cosgrove: 
THE  HIDDE?^   VALLEY  OF  OZ 

By  Eloise  Jarvis  McGraw  &  Lauren  McGraw  Wagner: 
MERRY  GO  ROUND  IN  OZ 


Chicago     THE  REILLY  &  LEE  CO.     Publishers 


THE  MAGIC  OF  OZ 

A  Faithful  Record  of  the  Remarkable  Adventures  of  Dorothy 

and  Trot  and  the  Wizard  of  Oz,  together  with  the 

Cowardly  Lion,  the  Hungry  Tiger  and   Cap'n 

Bill,  in  their  successful  search  for  a  Magical 

and  Beautiful  Birthday  Present  for 

Princess  Ozma  of  Oz 


BY 

L.  FRANK  BAUM 

"Royal  Historian  of  Oz" 


SvT 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 

JOHN    R.   NEILL 


The  Reilly  &  Lee  Co. 

Chicago 


Copyridht 

L  FrdnlcBaura 


All  Rights  Reserved 


nAD£    IN  U.S. A, 


I  Dedicate  this  Book  to  the 
Children  of  our  Soldiers,  the 
Americans  and  their  Allies, 
with  unmeasured  Pride  and 
Affection.  L.  F.  B. 


TO  MY  EEADERS 


Curiously  enough,  in  the  events  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  last  few  years  in  our  "  great  outside 
world,"  we  may  find  incidents  so  marvelous  and  inspir- 
ing that  I  cannot  hope  to  equal  them  with  stories  of 
The  Land  of  Oz. 

However,  "  The  Magic  of  Oz  "  is  really  more  strange 
and  unusual  than  anything  I  have  read  or  heard  about 
on  our  side  of  The  Great  Sandy  Desert  which  shuts 
us  off  from  The  Land  of  Oz,  even  during  the  past 
exciting  years,  so  I  hope  it  will  appeal  to  your  love  of 
novelty. 

A  long  and  confining  illness  has  prevented  my 
answering  all  the  good  letters  sent  me  —  unless  stamps 


were  enclosed  —  but  from  now  on  I  hope  to  be  able 
to  give  prompt  attention  to  each  and  every  letter  with 
which  my  readers  favor  me. 

Assuring  you  that  my  love  for  you  has  never  fal- 
tered and  hoping  the  Oz  Books  will  continue  to  give 
you  pleasure  as  long  as  I  am  able  to  write  them,  I  am 
Yours  affectionately, 

L.  FRANK  BAUM, 
"Royal  Historian  of  Oz.'' 


**  OZCOT  " 

aX  HOLLYWOOD 

in  CALIFORNIA 

1919 


LIST  OF  CHAPTERS 


1  Mount  Munch      17 

2  The  Hawk 27 

3  Two  Bad  Ones 34 

4  Conspirators 48 

5  A  Happy  Comer  of  Oz 53 

6  Ozma's  Birthday  Presents 65 

7  The  Forest  of  Gugu 81 

8  The  Li-Mon-Eags  Make  Trouble 87 

9  The  Isle  of  the  Magic  Flower 99 

10  Stuck  Fast 112 

11  The  Beasts  of  the  Forest  of  Gugu 121 

12  Kiki  Uses  His  Magic 131 

13  The  Loss  of  the  Black  Bag 144 

14  The  Wizard  Learns  the  Magic  Word 157 

15  The  Lonesome  Duck 169 

16  The  Glass  Cat  Finds  the  Black  Bag 183 

17  A  Remarkable  Journey 197 

18  The  Magic  of  the  Wizard 209 

19  Dorothy  and  the  Bumble  Bees 217 

20  The  Monkeys  Have  Trouble 226 

21  The  College  of  Athletic  Arts 235 

22  Ozma's  Birthday  Party 240 

23  The  Fountain  of  Oblivion 255 


The  Me^ic  of  Oz 


nwo. 


Mount  Munch 


J:, 


A 


»\^r 


N-^. 


^ 


CHAPTER  1 

On  the  east  edge  of  the  Land 
of  Oz,  in  the  Munchkin  Coun- 
try, is  a  big,  tall  hill  called 
Mount  Munch.  On  one  side, 
the  bottom  of  this  hill  just 
touches  the  Deadly  Sandy 
Desert  that  separates  the 
Fairyland  of  Oz  from  all  the 
rest  of  the  world,  but  on  the 
other  side,  the  hill  touches 
the  beautiful,  fertile  Country 
of  the  Munchkins. 
The  Munchkin  folks,  how- 
17 


^v> 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


ever,  merely  stand  off  and  look  at  Mount  Munch  and 
know  very  little  about  it;  for,  about  a  third  of  the 
way  up,  its  sides  become  too  steep  to  climb,  and  if 
any  people  live  upon  the  top  of  that  great  towering 
peak  that  seems  to  reach  nearly  to  the  skies,  the 
Munchkins  are  not  aware  of  the  fact. 

But  people  do  live  there,  just  the  same.  The  top 
of  Mount  Munch  is  shaped  like  a  saucer,  broad  and 
deep,  and  in  the  saucer  are  fields  where  grains  and 
vegetables  grow,  and  flocks  are  fed,  and  brooks  flow 
and  trees  bear  all  sorts  of  things.  There  are  houses 
scattered  here  and  there,  each  having  its  family  of 
Hyups,  as  the  people  call  themselves.  The  Hyups 
seldom  go  down  the  mountain,  for  the  same  reason 
that  the  Munchkins  never  climb  up:  the  sides  are  too 
steep. 

In  one  of  the  houses  lived  a  wise  old  Hyup  named 
Bini  Aru,  who  used  to  be  a  clever  Sorcerer.  But 
Ozma  of  Oz,  who  rules  everyone  in  the  Land  of  Oz, 
had  made  a  decree  that  no  one  should  practice  magic 
in  her  dominions  except  Glinda  the  Good  and  the 
Wizard  of  Oz,  and  when  Glinda  sent  this  royal  com- 
mand to  the  Hyups  by  means  of  a  strong-winged 
Eagle,  old  Bini  Aru  at  once  stopped  performing 
magical  arts.    He  destroyed  many  of  his  magic  pow- 

18 


Chapter  One 


ders  and  tools  of  magic,  and  afterward  honestly 
obeyed  the  law.  He  had  never  seen  Ozma,  but  he 
knew  she  was  his  Euler  and  must  be  obeyed. 

There  was  only  one  thing  that  grieved  him.  He 
had  discovered  a  new  and  secret  method  of  transfor- 
mations that  was  unknown  to  any  other  Sorcerer. 
Glinda  the  Good  did  not  know  it,  nor  did  the  little 
Wizard  of  Oz,  nor  Dr.  Pipt  nor  old  Mombi,  nor  any- 
one else  who  dealt  in  magic  arts.  It  was  Bini  Aru's 
own  secret.  By  its  means,  it  was  the  simplest  thing 
in  the  world  to  transform  anyone  into  beast,  bird  or 
fish,  or  anything  else,  and  back  again,  once  you  knew 
how  to  pronounce  the  mystical  word:  "Pyrzqxg  1." 

Bini  Aru  had  used  this  secret  many  times,  but  not 
to  cause  evil  or  suffering  to  others.  When  he  had 
wandered  far  from  home  and  was  hungry,  he  would 
say:  "  I  want  to  become  a  cow  —  Pyrzqxgl!"  In 
an  instant  he  would  be  a  cow,  and  then  he  would  eat 
grass  and  satisfy  his  hunger.  All  beasts  and  birds 
can  talk  in  the  Land  of  Oz,  so  when  the  cow  was  no 
longer  hungrj^,  it  would  say:  "I  want  to  be  Bini 
Aru  again:  Pyrzqxgl!"  and  the  magic  word, 
properly  pronounced,  would  instantly  restore  him  to 
his  proper  form. 

Now,  of  course,  I  would  not  dare  to  write  down 

19 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


this  magic  word  so  plainly  if  I  thought  my  readers 
would  pronoimce  it  properly  and  so  be  able  to  trans- 
form themselves  and  others,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  no 
one  in  all  the  world  except  Bini  Aru,  had  ever  (up 
to  the  time  this  story  begins)  been  able  to  pronounce 
"  P  y  r  2  q  X  g  1 "  the  right  way,  so  I  think  it  is  safe 
to  give  it  to  you.  It  might  be  well,  however,  in  read- 
ing this  story  aloud,  to  be  careful  not  to  pronounce 
Pyrzqxgl  the  proper  way,  and  thus  avoid  all  dan- 
ger of  the  secret  being  able  to  work  mischief. 

Bini  Aru,  having  discovered  the  secret  of  instant 
transformation,  which  required  no  tools  or  powders 
or  other  chemicals  or  herbs  and  always  worked  per- 
fectly, was  reluctant  to  have  such  a  wonderful  dis- 
covery entirely  unknown  or  lost  to  all  human  knowl- 
edge. He  decided  not  to  use  it  again,  since  Ozma 
had  forbidden  him  to  do  so,  but  he  reflected  that 
Ozma  was  a  girl  and  some  time  might  change  her 
mind  and  allow  her  subjects  to  practice  magic,  in 
which  case  Bini  Aru  could  again  transform  himself 
and  others  at  will,  —  unless,  of  course,  he  forgot  how 
to  pronounce  Pyrzqxglin  the  meantime. 

After  giving  the  matter  careful  thought,  he  decided 

to  write  the  word,  and  how  it  should  be  pronounced, 

in  some  secret  place,  so  that  he  could  find  it  after 

20 


Chapter  One 


many  years,  but  where  no  one  else  could  ever  find  it. 

That  was  a  clever  idea,  but  what  bothered  the  old 
Sorcerer  was  to  find  a  secret  place.  He  wandered 
all  over  the  Saucer  at  the  top  of  Mount  Munch,  but 
found  no  place  in  which  to  write  the  secret  word 
where  others  might  not  be  likely  to  stumble  upon  it. 
So  finally  he  decided  it  must  be  written  somewhere 
in  his  own  house. 

Bini  Aru  had  a  wife  named  Mopsi  Aru  who  was 
famous  for  making  fine  huckleberry  pies,  and  he 
had  a  son  named  Kiki  Aru  who  was  not  famous  at 
all.  He  was  noted  as  being  cross  and  disagreeable 
because  he  was  not  happy,  and  he  was  not  happy 
because  he  wanted  to  go  down  the  mountain  and 
visit  the  big  world  below  and  his  father  would  not 
let  him.  No  one  paid  any  attention  to  Kiki  Aru, 
because  he  didn't  amount  to  anything,  anyway. 

Once  a  year  there  was  a  festival  on  Mount  Munch 

which  all  the  Hyups  attended.     It  was  held  in  the 

center  of  the  saucer-shaped  country,  and  the  day  was 

given  over  to  feasting  and  merry-making.    The  young 

folks  danced  and  sang  songs;  the  women  spread  the 

tables  with  good  things  to  eat,  and  the  men  played 

on  musical  instruments  and  told  fairy  tales. 

Kiki  Aru  usually  went  to  these  festivals  with  his 

21 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


parents,  and  then  sat  sullenly  outside  the  circle  and 
would  not  dance  or  sing  or  even  talk  to  the  other 
young  people.  So  the  festival  did  not  make  him 
any  hajjpier  than  other  days,  and  this  time  he  told 
Bini  Aru  and  Mopsi  Aru  that  he  would  not  go.  He 
would  rather  stay  at  home  and  be  unhappy  all  by 
himself,  he  said,  and  so  they  gladly  let  him  stay. 

But  after  he  was  left  alone  Kiki  decided  to  enter 
his  father's  private  room,  where  he  was  forbidden 
to  go,  and  see  if  he  could  find  any  of  the  magic  tools 
Bini  Aru  used  to  work  with  when  he  practiced  sorcery. 
As  he  went  in  Kiki  stubbed  his  toe  on  one  of  the  floor 
boards.  He  searched  everywhere  but  found  no  trace 
of  his  father's  magic.    All  had  been  destroyed. 

Much  disappointed,  he  started  to  go  out  again 
when  he  stubbed  his  toe  on  the  same  floor  board. 
That  set  him  thinking.  Examining  the  board  more 
closely,  Kiki  found  it  had  been  pried  up  and  then 
nailed  down  again  in  such  a  manner  that  it  was  a 
little  higher  than  the  other  boards.  But  why  had 
his  father  taken  up  the  board?  Had  he  hidden  some 
of  his  magic  tools  underneath  the  floor? 

Kiki  got  a  chisel  and  pried  up  the  board,  but  found 
nothing  under  it.  He  was  just  about  to  replace  the 
board  when  it  slipped  from  his  hand  and  turned  over, 

22 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


and  he  saw  something  written  on  the  underside  of  it. 
The  light  was  rather  dim,  so  he  took  the  board  to  the 
window  and  examined  it,  and  found  that  the  writing 
described  exactly  how  to  pronounce  the  magic  word 
Pyrzqxgl,  which  would  transform  anyone  into 
anything  instantly,  and  back  again  when  the  word 
was  repeated. 

Now,  at  first,  Kiki  Aru  didn't  realize  what  a  won- 
derful secret  he  had  discovered;  but  he  thought  it 
might  be  of  use  to  him  and  so  he  took  a  piece  of 
paper  and  made  on  it  an  exact  copy  of  the  instruc- 
tions for  pronouncing  Pyrzqxgl.  Then  he  folded 
the  paper  and  put  it  in  his  pocket,  and  replaced  the 
board  in  the  floor  so  that  no  one  would  suspect  it 
had  been  removed. 

After  this  Kiki  went  into  the  garden  and  sitting 
beneath  a  tree  made  a  careful  study  of  the  paper.  He 
had  always  wanted  to  get  away  from  Mount  Munch 
and  visit  the  big  world  —  especially  the  Land  of  Oz  — 
and  the  idea  now  came  to  him  that  if  he  could  trans- 
form himself  into  a  bird,  he  could  fly  to  any  place  he 
wished  to  go  and  fly  back  again  whenever  he  cared  to. 
It  was  necessary,  however,  to  learn  by  heart  the  way 
to  pronounce  the  magic  word,  because  a  bird  would 
have  no  way  to  carry  a  paper  with  it,  and  Kiki 

24 


Chapter  One 


would  be  unable  to  resume  his  proper  shape  if  he 
forgot  the  word  or  its  pronunciation. 

So  he  studied  it  a  long  time,  repeating  it  a  hun- 
dred times  in  his  mind  until  he  was  sure  he  would 
not  forget  it.  But  to  make  safety  doubly  sure  he 
placed  the  paper  in  a  tin  box  in  a  neglected  part  of 
the  garden  and  covered  the  box  with  small  stones. 

By  this  time  it  was  getting  late  in  the  day  and 
Kiki  wished  to  attempt  his  first  transformation  before 
his  parents  returned  from  the  festival.  So  he  stood 
on  the  front  porch  of  his  home  and  said; 

"  I  want  to  become  a  big,  strong  bird,  like  a  hawk 
—  Pyrzqxgl!"  He  pronounced  it  the  right  way, 
so  in  a  flash  he  felt  that  he  was  completely  changed 
in  form.  He  flapped  his  wings,  hopped  to  the  porch 
railing  and  said:    "  Caw-ool    Caw-oo!" 

Then  he  laughed  and  said  half  aloud:  "I  suppose 
that's  the  funny  sound  this  sort  of  a  bird  makes.  But 
now  let  me  try  my  wings  and  see  if  I'm  strong  enough 
to  fly  across  the  desert." 

For  he  had  decided  to  make  his  first  trip  to  the 
country  outside  the  Land  of  Oz.  He  had  stolen  this 
secret  of  transformation  and  he  knew  he  had  dis- 
obeyed the  law  of  Oz  by  working  magic.  Perhaps 
Glinda  or  the  Wizard  of  Oz  would  discover  him  and 

25 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


punish  him,  so  it  would  be  good  policy  to  keep  away 
from  Oz  altogether. 

Slowly  Kiki  rose  into  the  air,  and  resting  on  his 
broad  wings,  floated  in  graceful  circles  above  the 
saucer-shaped  mountain-top.  From  his  height,  he 
could  see,  far  across  the  burning  sands  of  the  Deadly 
Desert,  another  country  that  might  be  pleasant  to 
explore,  so  he  headed  that  way,  and  with  strong, 
steady  strokes*  of  his  wings,  began  the  long  flight. 


26 


The  Hawk 


y;  i 


UvJ^ 


CHAPTER  2 
Even  a  hawk  has  to  fly  high 
in  order  to  cross  the  Deadly 
Desert,  from  which  poisonous 
fumes  are  constantly  rising. 
Kiki  Aru  felt  sick  and  faint 
by  the  time  he  reached  good 
land  again,  for  he  could  not 
quite  escape  the  effects  of  the 
poisons.  But  the  fresh  air 
soon  restored  him  and  he 
alighted  in  a  broad  table-land 
which  is  called  Hiland.    Just 

beyond  it  is  a  valley  known 
27 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


as  Loland,  and  these  two  countries  are  ruled  by  the 
Gingerbread  Man,  John  Dough,  with  Chick  the  Cherub 
as  his  Prime  Minister.  The  Hawk  merely  stopped 
here  long  enough  to  rest,  and  then  he  flew  north  and 
passed  over  a  fine  country  called  Merryland,  which 
is  ruled  by  a  lovely  Wax  Doll.  Then,  following  the 
curve  of  the  Desert,  he  turned  north  and  settled  on 
a  tree-top  in  the  Kingdom  of  Noland. 

Kiki  was  tired  by  this  time,  and  the  sun  was  now 
setting,  so  he  decided  to  remain  here  till  morning. 
From  his  tree-top  he  could  see  a  house  near  by,  which 
looked  very  comfortable.  A  man  was  milking  a  cow 
in  the  yard  and  a  pleasant-faced  woman  came  to  the 
door  and  called  him  to  supper. 

That  made  Kiki  wonder  what  sort  of  food  hawks 
ate.  He  felt  hungry,  but  didn't  know  what  to  eat 
or  where  to  get  it.  Also  he  thought  a  bed  would  be 
more  comfortable  than  a  tree-top  for  sleeping,  so 
he  hopped  to  the  ground  and  said:  "  I  want  to  become 
Kiki  Aru  again  —  Pyrzqxgl!" 

Instantly  he  had  resumed  his  natural  shape,  and 
going  to  the  house,  he  knocked  upon  the  door  and 
asked  for  some  supper. 

"  Who  are  you?"  asked  the  man  of  the  house. 

*'  A  stranger  from  the  Land  of  Oz,"  replied  Kiki  Aru. 

28 


Chapter  Two 


"Then  you  are  welcome,"  said  the  man. 

Kiki  was  given  a  good  supper  and  a  good  bed,  and 
he  behaved  very  well,  although  he  refused  to  answer 
all  the  questions  the  good  people  of  Noland  asked 
him.  Having  escaped  from  his  home  and  found  a 
way  to  see  the  world,  the  young  man  was  no  longer 
unhappy,  and  so  he  was  no  longer  cross  and  disagree- 
able. The  people  thought  him  a  very  respectable 
person  and  gave  him  breakfast  next  morning,  after 
which  he  started  on  his  way  feeling  quite  contented. 

Having  walked  for  an  hour  or  two  through  the 
pretty  country  that  is  ruled  by  King  Bud,  Kiki  Aru 
decided  he  could  travel  faster  and  see  more  as  a  bird, 
so  he  transformed  himself  into  a  white  dove  and 
visited  the  great  city  of  Nole  and  saw^  the  King's 
palace  and  gardens  and  many  other  places  of  interest. 
Then  he  flew  westward  into  the  Kingdom  of  Ix,  and 
after  a  day  in  Queen  Zixi's  country  went  on  westward 
into  the  Land  of  Ev.  Every  place  he  visited  he 
thought  was  much  more  pleasant  than  the  saucer- 
coimtry  of  the  Hyups,  and  he  decided  that  when  he 
reached  the  finest  country  of  all  he  would  settle  there 
and  enjoy  his  future  life  to  the  utmost. 

In  the  Land  of  Ev  he  resumed  his  own  shape  again, 

for  the  cities  and  villages  were  close  together  and  he 

29 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


could  easily  go  on  foot  from  one  to  another  of  them. 

Toward  evening  he  came  to  a  good  Inn  and  asked 
the  inn-keeper  if  he  could  have  food  and  lodging. 

"  You  can  if  you  have  the  money  to  pay,"  said  the 
man,  "  otherwise  you  must  go  elsewhere." 

This  surprised  Kiki,  for  in  the  Land  of  Oz  they  do 
not  use  money  at  all,  everyone  being  allowed  to  take 
what  he  wishes  without  price.  He  had  no  money, 
therefore,  and  so  he  turned  away  to  seek  hospitality 
elsewhere.  Looking  through  an  open  window  into 
one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Tnn,  as  he  passed  along,  he 
saw  an  old  man  counting  on  a  table  a  big  heap  of  gold 
pieces,  which  Kiki  thought  to  be  money.  One  of  these 
would  buy  him  supper  and  a  bed,  he  reflected,  so  he 
transformed  himself  into  a  magpie  and,  flying  through 
the  open  window,  caught  up  one  of  the  gold  pieces 
in  his  beak  and  flew  out  again  before  the  old  man 
could  interfere.  Indeed,  the  old  man  who  was  robbed 
was  quite  helpless,  for  he  dared  not  leave  his  pile  of 
gold  to  chase  the  magpie,  and  before  he  could  place 
the  gold  in  a  sack  and  the  sack  in  his  pocket  the 
robber  bird  was  out  of  sight  and  to  seek  it  would  be 
folly. 

Kiki  Aru  flew  to  a  group  of  trees  and,  dropping 
the  gold  piece  to  the  ground,  resumed  his  proper 

30 


Chapter  Two 


shape,  and  then  picked  up  the  money  and  put  it  in 
his  pocket. 

"  You'll  be  sorry  for  this! "  exclaimed  a  small  voice 
just  over  his  head. 


Kiki  looked  up  and  saw  that  a  sparrow,  perched 
upon  a  branch,  was  watching  him. 

"Sorry  for  what?"  he  demanded. 

"  Oh,  I  saw  the  whole  thing,"  asserted  the  sparrow. 
"  I  saw  you  look  in  the  window  at  the  gold,  and  then 

31 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


make  yourself  into  a  magpie  and  rob  the  poor  man, 
and  then  I  saw  you  fly  here  and  make  the  bird  into 
your  former  shape.   That's  magic,  and  magic  is  wicked 


and  unlawful;  and  you  stole  money,  and  that's  a  still 
greater  crime.    You'll  be  sorry,  some  day." 

"  I  don't  care,"  replied  Kiki  Aru,  scowling. 

"Aren't   you   afraid   to   be   wicked?"   asked   the 
sparrow. 

32 


Chapter  Two 


"  No,  I  didn't  know  I  was  being  wicked,"  said  Kiki, 
"but  if  I  was,  I'm  glad  of  it.  I  hate  good  people. 
Pve  always  wanted  to  be  wicked,  but  I  didn't  know 
how." 

"Haw,  haw,  haw!"  laughed  someone  behind  him, 
in  a  big  voice;  "  that's  the  proper  spirit,  my  lad!  I'm 
glad  I've  met  you;  shake  hands." 

The  sparrow  gave  a  frightened  squeak  and  flew 
away. 


S3 


Two  Bad  Ones 


L.N_; 


CHAPTER  3 

Kiki  turned  around  and  saw 
a  queer  old  man  standing 
near.  He  didn't  stand 
straight,  for  he  was  crooked. 
He  had  a  fat  body  and  thin 
legs  and  arms.  He  had  a  big, 
round  face  with  bushy,  white 
whiskers  that  came  to  a  point 
below  his  waist,  and  white 
hair  that  came  to  a  point  on 
top  of  his  head.  He  wore 
dull-gray  clothes  that  were 
tight  fitting,  and  his  pockets 
34 


Chapter  Three 


were  all  bunched  out  as  if  stuffed  full  of  something, 

"  I  didn't  know  you  were  here,"  said  Kiki. 

"  I  didn't  come  until  after  you  did,"  said  the  queer 
old  man. 

"  Who  are  you?  "  asked  Kiki. 

"My  name's  Ruggedo.  I  used  to  be  the  Nome 
King;  but  I  got  kicked  out  of  my  country,  and  now 
I'm  a  wanderer." 

"What  made  them  kick  you  out?"  inquired  the 
Hyup  boy. 

"  Well,  it's  the  fashion  to  kick  kings  nowadays.  I 
was  a  pretty  good  King  —  to  myself  —  but  those 
dreadful  Oz  people  wouldn't  let  me  alone.  So  I  had 
to  abdicate." 

"What  does  that  mean?" 

"It  means  to  be  kicked  out.  But  let's  talk  about 
something  pleasant.  Who  are  you  and  where  did 
you  come  from?" 

"I'm  called  Kiki  Aru.  I  used  to  live  on  Moimt 
Munch  in  the  Land  of  Oz,  but  now  I'm  a  wanderer 
like  yourself." 

The  Nome  King  gave  him  a  shrewd  look. 

"  I  heard  that  bird  say  that  you  transformed  your- 
self into  a  magpie  and  back  again.    Is  that  true?  " 

Kiki  hesitated,  but  saw  no  reason  to  deny  it.    He 

35 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


felt  that  it  would  make  him  appear  more  important. 

"Well  —  yes,"  he  said. 

"Then  you're  a  wizard?" 

"No;  I  only  understand  transformations,"  he 
admitted. 

"  Well,  that's  pretty  good  magic,  anyhow,"  declared 
old  Ruggedo.  "  I  used  to  have  some  very  fine  magic, 
myself,  but  my  enemies  took  it  all  away  from  me. 
Where  are  you  going  now  ?  " 

"  I'm  going  into  the  inn,  to  get  some  supper  and 
a  bed,"  said  Kiki. 

"  Have  you  the  money  to  pay  for  it  ?  "  asked  the 
Nome. 

"  I  have  one  gold  piece." 

"Which  you  stole.  Very  good.  And  you're  glad 
that  you're  wicked.  Better  yet.  I  like  you,  young 
man,  and  I'll  go  to  the  inn  with  you  if  you'll  promise 
not  to  eat  eggs  for  supper." 

"Don't  you  like  eggs?"  asked  Kiki. 

"I'm  afraid  of  'em;  they're  dangerous!"  said  Rug- 
gedo,  with  a  shudder. 

"All  right,"  agreed  Kiki;  "I  won't  ask  for  eggs." 

"  Then  come  along,"  said  the  Nome. 

When  they  entered  the  inn,  the  landlord  scowled 
at  Kiki  and  said: 

36 


Chapter  Three 


"  I  told  you  I  would  not  feed  you  unless  you  had 
money." 

Kiki  showed  him  the  gold  piece. 

"  And  how  about  you?  "  asked  the  landlord^  turning 
to  Ruggedo.    "Have  you  money?" 

"I've  something  better,"  answered  the  old  Nome, 
and  taking  a  bag  from  one  of  his  pockets  he  poured 
from  it  upon  the  table  a  mass  of  glittering  gems  — 
diamonds,  rubies  and  emeralds. 

The  landlord  was  very  polite  to  the  strangers  after 
that.  He  served  them  an  excellent  supper,  and  while 
they  ate  it,  the  Hyup  boy  asked  his  companion: 

"  Where  did  you  get  so  many  jewels?  " 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  answered  the  Nome.  "  When 
those  Oz  people  took  my  kingdom  away  from  me  — 
just  because  it  was  my  kingdom  and  I  wanted  to  run 
it  to  suit  myself  —  they  said  I  could  take  as  many 
precious  stones  as  I  could  carry.  So  I  had  a  lot  of 
pockets  made  in  my  clothes  and  loaded  them  all  up. 
Jewels  are  fine  things  to  have  with  you  when  you 
travel;  you  can  trade  them  for  anything." 

"Are  they  better  than  gold  pieces?"  asked  Kiki. 

"The  smallest  of  these  jewels  is  worth  a  hun- 
dred gold  pieces  such  as  you  stole  from  the  old 


man." 


37 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  Don't  talk  so  loud,"  begged  Kiki,  uneasily.  "  Some 
one  else  might  hear  what  you  are  saying." 

After  supper  they  took  a  walk  together,  and  the 
former  Nome  King  said: 

"  Do  you  know  the  Shaggy  Man,  and  the  Scarecrow, 
and  the  Tin  Woodman,  and  Dorothy,  and  Ozma  and 
all  the  other  Oz  people?" 

"No,"  replied  the  boy,  "I  have  never  been  away 
from  Mount  Munch  until  I  flew  over  the  Deadly 
Desert  the  other  day  in  the  shape  of  a  hawk." 

"  Then  you've  never  seen  the  Emerald  City  of  Oz?" 

"  Never." 

"  "V^ell,"  said  the  Nome,  "  I  knew  all  the  Oz  people, 
and  you  can  guess  I  do  not  love  them.  All  during  my 
wanderings  I  have  brooded  on  how  I  can  be  revenged 
on  them.  Now  that  I've  met  you  I  can  see  a  way  to 
conquer  the  Land  of  Oz  and  be  King  there  myself, 
which  is  better  than  being  King  of  the  Nomes." 

"How  can  you  do  that?"  inquired  Kiki  Aru,  won- 
deringly. 

"  Never  mind  how.  In  the  first  place,  I'll  make  a 
bargain  with  you.  Tell  me  the  secret  of  how  to  per- 
form transformations  and  I  will  give  you  a  pocketful 
of  jewels,  the  biggest  and  finest  that  I  possess." 

"NO;"  said  Kiki,  who  realized  that  to  share  his 

38 


Chapter  Three 


power  with  another  would  be  dangerous  to  himself. 

"ril  give  you  two  pocketsful  of  jewels,"  said  the 
Nome. 

"No;"  answered  Kiki. 

"  ril  give  you  every  jewel  I  possess." 

"No,  no,  no!"  said  Kiki,  who  was  beginning  to  be 
frightened. 

"  Then,"  said  the  Nome,  with  a  wicked  look  at  the 
boy,  "  I'll  tell  the  inn-keeper  that  you  stole  that  gold 
piece  and  he  will  have  you  put  in  prison." 

Kiki  laughed  at  the  threat. 

"  Before  he  can  do  that,"  said  he,  "  I  will  transform 
myself  into  a  lion  and  tear  him  to  pieces,  or  into  a 
bear  and  eat  him  up,  or  into  a  fly  and  fly  away  where 
he  could  not  find  me." 

"  Can  you  really  do  such  wonderful  transforma- 
tions?" asked  the  old  Nome,  looking  at  his  curiously. 

"  Of  course,"  declared  Kiki.  "  I  can  transform  you 
into  a  stick  of  wood,  in  a  flash,  or  into  a  stone,  and 
leave  you  here  by  the  roadside." 

The  wicked  Nome  shivered  a  little  when  he  heard 
that,  but  it  made  him  long  more  than  ever  to  possess 
the  great  secret.    After  a  while  he  said: 

"  V\\  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  If  you  will  help  me  to 
conquer  Oz  and  to  transform  the  Oz  people,  who  are 

39 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


my  enemies,  into  sticks  or  stones,  by  telling  me  your 
secret,  I'll  agree  to  make  you  the  Euler  of  all  Oz, 
and  I  will  be  your  Prime  Minister  and  see  that  your 
orders  are  obeyed." 

"Til  help  do  that,"  said  Kiki,  "but  I  won't  tell 
you  my  secret." 

The  Nome  was  so  furious  at  this  refusal  that  he 
jumped  up  and  down  with  rage  and  spluttered  and 
choked  for  a  long  time  before  he  could  control  his 
passion.  But  the  boy  was  not  at  all  frightened.  He 
laughed  at  the  wicked  old  Nome,  which  made  him 
more  furious  than  ever. 

"Let's  give  up  the  idea,"  he  proposed,  when  Rug- 
gedo  had  quieted  somewhat.  "I  don't  know  the  Oz 
people  you  mention  and  so  they  are  not  my  enemies. 
If  they've  kicked  you  out  of  your  kingdom,  that's 
your  affair  —  not  mine." 

"Wouldn't  you  like  to  be  king  of  that  splendid 
fairyland?"  asked  Ruggedo. 

"Yes,  I  would,"  replied  Kiki  Aru;  "but  you  want 
to  be  king  yourself,  and  we  would  quarrel  over  it." 

"No,"  said  the  Nome,  trying  to  deceive  him.  "I 
don't  care  to  be  king  of  Oz,  come  to  think  it  over.  I 
don't  even  care  to  live  in  that  country.  What  I  want 
first  is  revenge.    If  we  can  conquer  Oz,  I'll  get  enough 

40 


Chapter  Three 


magic  then  to  conquer  my  own  kingdom  of  the  Nomes, 
and  I'll  go  back  and  live  in  my  underground  caverns, 
which  are  more  home-like  than  the  top  of  the  earth. 
So  here's  my  proposition:  Help  me  conquer  Oz  and 
get  revenge,  and  help  me  get  the  magic  away  from 


Glinda  and  the  Wizard,  and  I'll  let  you  be  King  of 
Oz  forever  afterward." 

"  I'll  think  it  over,"  answered  Kiki,  and  that  is  all 
he  would  say  that  evening. 

In  the  night  when  all  in  the  Inn  were  asleep  but 

41 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


liimself,  old  Ruggedo  the  Nome,  rose  softly  from  his 
couch  and  went  into  the  room  of  Kiki  Aru  the  Hyup, 
and  searched  everywhere  for  the  magic  tool  that 
performed  his  transformations.  Of  course,  there  was 
no  such  tool,  and  although  Ruggedo  searched  in  all 
the  boy's  pockets,  he  found  nothing  magical  what- 
ever. So  he  went  back  to  his  bed  and  began  to  doubt 
that  Kiki  could  perform  transformations. 

Next  morning  he  said: 

"Which  way  do  you  travel  to-day?" 

"  I  think  I  shall  visit  the  Rose  Kingdom,"  answered 
the  boy. 

"  That  is  a  long  journey,"  declared  the  Nome. 

"I  shall  transform  myself  into  a  bird,"  said  Kiki, 
"  and  so  fly  to  the  Rose  Kingdom  in  an  hour." 

"Then  transform  me,  also,  into  a  bird,  and  I  will 
go  with  you,"  suggested  Ruggedo.  "  But,  in  that 
case,  let  us  fly  together  to  the  Land  of  Oz,  and  see 
what  it  looks  like." 

Kiki  thought  this  over.  Pleasant  as  were  the  coun- 
tries he  had  visited,  he  heard  everywhere  that  the 
Land  of  Oz  was  more  beautiful  and  delightful.  The 
Land  of  Oz  was  his  own  country,  too,  and  if  there 
was  any  possibility  of  his  becoming  its  King,  he  must 
know  something  about  it. 

42 


Chapter  Three 


While  Kiki  the  Hyup  thought,  Ruggedo  the  Nome 
was  also  thinking.  This  boy  possessed  a  marvelous 
power,  and  although  very  simple  in  some  ways,  he 
was  determined  not  to  part  with  his  secret.  How- 
ever, if  Ruggedo  could  get  him  to  transport  the  wily 
old  Nome  to  Oz,  which  he  could  reach  in  no  other 
way,  he  might  then  induce  the  boy  to  follow  his  advice 
and  enter  into  the  plot  for  revenge,  which  he  had 
already  planned  in  his  wicked  heart. 

"  There  are  wizards  and  magicians  in  Oz,"  remarked 
Kiki,  after  a  time.  "  They  might  discover  us,  in  spite 
of  our  transformations." 

"Not  if  we  are  careful,"  Ruggedo  assured  him. 
"Ozma  has  a  Magic  Picture,  in  which  she  can  see 
whatever  she  wishes  to  see;  but  Ozma  will  know 
nothing  of  our  going  to  Oz,  and  so  she  will  not  com- 
mand her  Magic  Picture  to  show  where  we  are  or 
what  we  are  doing.  Glinda  the  Good  has  a  Great 
Book  called  the  Book  of  Records,  in  which  is  magically 
written  everything  that  people  do  in  the  Land  of  Oz, 
just  the  instant  they  do  it." 

"  Then,"  said  Kiki,  "  there  is  no  use  our  attempting 
to  conquer  the  country,  for  Glinda  would  read  in  her 
book  all  that  we  do,  and  as  her  magic  is  greater  than 
mine,  she  would  soon  put  a  stop  to  our  plans." 

43 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"I  said  *  people/  didn't  I?"  retorted  the  Nome. 
"The  book  doesn't  make  a  record  of  what  birds  do, 
or  beasts.  It  only  tells  the  doings  of  people.  So,  if 
we  fly  into  the  country  as  birds,  Glinda  won't  know 
anything  about  it." 


"Two  birds  couldn't  conquer  the  Land  of  Oz," 
asserted  the  boy,  scornfully. 

"No;  that's  true,"  admitted  Ruggedo,  and  then  he 

rubbed  his  forehead  and  stroked  his  long  pointed 

beard  and  thought  some  more. 

"  Ah,  now  I  have  the  idea! "  he  declared.    "I  sup- 

44 


Chapter  Three 


pose  you  can  transform  us  into  beasts  as  well  as 
birds?" 

"Of  course." 

"  And  can  you  make  a  bird  a  beast,  and  a  beast  a 
bird  again,  without  taking  a  human  form  in  between"? " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Kiki.  "  I  can  transform  myself 
or  others  into  anything  that  can  talk.  There's  a  magic 
word  that  must  be  spoken  in  connection  with  the 
transformations,  and  as  beasts  and  birds  and  dragons 
and  fishes  can  talk  in  Oz,  we  may  become  any  of  these 
we  desire  to.  However,  if  I  transformed  myself  into 
a  tree,  I  would  always  remaih  a  tree,  because  then 
I  could  not  utter  the  magic  word  to  change  the 
transformation." 

"I  see;  I  see,"  said  Ruggedo,  nodding  his  bushy, 
white  head  until  the  point  of  his  hair  waved  back 
and  forth  like  a  pendulum.  "  That  fits  in  with  my 
idea,  exactly.  Now,  listen,  and  Til  explain  to  you 
my  plan.  We'll  fly  to  Oz  as  birds  and  settle  in  one 
of  the  thick  forests  in  the  Gillikin  Country.  There 
you  will  transform  us  into  powerful  beasts,  and  as 
Glinda  doesn't  keep  any  track  of  the  doings  of  beasts 
we  can  act  without  being  discovered." 

"  But  how  can  two  beasts  raise  an  army  to  con- 
quer the  powerful  people  of  Oz?  "  inquired  Kiki. 

45 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"That's  easy.  But  not  an  army  of  people,  mind 
you.  That  would  be  quickly  discovered.  And  while 
we  are  in  Oz  you  and  I  will  never  resume  our  human 
forms  until  weVe  conquered  the  country  and  destroyed 
Glinda,  and  Ozma,  and  the  Wizard,  and  Dorothy,  and 
all  the  rest,  and  so  have  nothing  more  to  fear  from 
them." 

"  It  is  impossible  to  kill  anyone  in  the  Land  of  Oz," 
declared  Kiki. 

"  It  isn't  necessary  to  kill  the  Oz  people,"  rejoined 
Ruggedo. 

"  I'm  afraid  I  don't  understand  you,"  objected  the 
boy.  "  What  will  happen  to  the  Oz  people,  and  what 
sort  of  an  army  could  we  get  together,  except  of 
people?" 

"  I'll  tell  you.    The  forests  of  Oz  are  full  of  beasts. 

Some  of  them,  in  the  far-away  places,  are  savage  and 

cruel,  and  would  gladly  follow  a  leader  as  savage  as 

themselves.    They  have  never  troubled  the  Oz  people 

much,  because  they  had  no  leader  to  urge  them  on, 

but  we  will  tell  them  to  help  us  conquer  Oz  and  as 

a  reward  we  will  transform  all  the  beasts  into  men 

and  women,  and  let  them  live  in  the  houses  and  enjoy 

all  the  good  things;  and  we  will  transform  all  the 

people  of  Oz  into  beasts  of  various  sorts,  and  send 

46 


Chapter  Three 


them  to  live  in  the  forests  and  the  jungles.  That  is 
a  splendid  idea,  you  must  admit,  and  it's  so  easy  that 
we  won't  have  any  trouble  at  all  to  carry  it  through 
to  success." 

"Will  the  beasts  consent,  do  you  think?"  asked 
the  boy. 

"  To  be  sure  they  will.  We  can  get  every  beast  in 
Oz  on  our  side  —  except  a  few  who  live  in  Ozma's 
palace,  and  they  won't  count.'* 


47 


Conspirators 


CHAPTER  4 

Kiki  Aru  didn't  know  mucli 
about  Oz  and  didn't  know 
much  about  the  beasts  who 
lived  there,  but  the  old  Nome's 
plan  seemed  to  him  to  be 
quite  reasonable.  He  had  a 
faint  suspicion  that  Ruggedo 
meant  to  get  the  best  of  him 
in  some  way,  and  he  resolved 
to  keep  a  close  watch  on  his 
fellow-conspirator.  As  long 
as    he    kept    to    himself    the 

secret  word  of  the  transfor- 
48 


Chapter  Four 


mations,  Ruggedo  would  not  dare  to  harm  htm,  and 
he  promised  himself  that  as  soon  as  they  had  con- 
quered Oz,  he  would  transform  the  old  Nome  into  a 
marble  statue  and  keep  him  in  that  form  forever. 

Ruggedo,  on  his  part,  decided  that  he  could,  by 
careful  watching  and  listening,  surprise  the  boy's 
secret,  and  when  he  had  learned  the  magic  word  he 
would  transform  Kiki  Aru  into  a  bundle  of  faggots 
and  burn  him  up  and  so  be  rid  of  him. 

This  is  always  the  way  with  wicked  people.  They 
cannot  be  trusted  even  by  one  another.  Ruggedo 
thought  he  was  fooling  Kiki,  and  Kiki  thought  he  was 
fooling  Ruggedo;  so  both  were  pleased. 

"  It's  a  long  way  across  the  Desert,"  remarked  the 
boy,  "  and  the  sands  are  hot  and  send  up  poisonous 
vapors.  Let  us  wait  until  evening  and  then  fly  across 
in  the  night  when  it  will  be  cooler." 

The  former  Nome  King  agreed  to  this,  and  the  two 
spent  the  rest  of  that  day  in  talking  over  their  plans. 
When  evening  came  they  paid  the  inn-keeper  and 
walked  out  to  a  little  grove  of  trees  that  stood  near  by. 

"Remain  here  for  a  few  minutes  and  Til  soon  be 

back,"  said  Kiki,  and  walking  swiftly  away,  he  left 

the  Nome  standing  in  the  grove.    Ruggedo  wondered 

where  he  had  gone,  but  stood  quietly  in  his  place  until, 

49 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


all  of  a  sudden,  his  form  changed  to  that  of  a  great 
eagle,  and  he  uttered  a  piercing  cry  of  astonishment 
and  flapped  his  wings  in  a  sort  of  panic.  At  once  his 
eagle  cry  was  answered  from  beyond  the  grove,  and 
another  eagle,  even  larger  and  more  powerful  than 
the  transformed  Euggedo,  came  sailing  through  the 
trees  and  alighted  beside  him. 

"Now  we  are  ready  for  the  start,"  said  the  voice 
of  Kiki,  coming  from  the  eagle. 

Euggedo  realized  that  this  time  he  had  been  out- 
witted. He  had  thought  Kiki  would  utter  the  magic 
word  in  his  presence,  and  so  he  would  learn  what  it 
was,  but  the  boy  had  been  too  shrewd  for  that. 

As  the  two  eagles  mounted  high  into  the  air  and 
began  their  flight  across  the  great  Desert  that  sep- 
arates the  Land  of  Oz  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
the  Nome  said: 

"  When  I  was  king  of  the  Nomes  I  had  a  magic  way 
of  working  transformations  that  I  thought  was  good, 
but  it  could  not  compare  with  your  secret  word.  I 
had  to  have  certain  tools  and  make  passes  and  say  a 
lot  of  mystic  words  before  I  could  transform  anybody." 

"  What  became  of  your  magic  tools?  "  inquired  Kiki. 

"  The  Oz  people  took  them  all  away  from  me  —  that 

horrid  girl,  Dorothy,  and  that  terrible  fairy,  Ozma, 

50 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


the  Euler  of  Oz  —  at  the  time  they  took  away  my 
underground  kingdom  and  kicked  me  upstairs  into 
the  cold,  heartless  world." 

"  Why  did  you  let  them  do  that?  "  asked  the  boy. 

"Well,"  said  Euggedo,  "I  couldn't  help  it.    They 


rolled  eggs  at  me  —  eggs  —  dreadful  eggs  I  —  and  if 
an  egg  even  touches  a  Nome,  he  is  ruined  for  life." 
"  Is  any  kind  of  an  o^gg  dangerous  to  a  Nome?  " 
"Any  kind  and  every  kind.     An  egg  is  the  only 
thing  I'm  afraid  of." 

52 


A  Happy  Corner  of  Oz 


c   \ 


.'  / 


^ 


c 


V 


^ 


v^  -^-£^~s^, 


> 


CHAPTER  5 
There  is  no  other  country  so 
beautiful  as  the  Land  of  Oz. 
There  are  no  other  people  so 
happy  and  contented  and 
prosperous  as  the  Oz  people. 
They  have  all  they  desire; 
they  love  and  admire  their 
beautiful  girl  Ruler,  Ozma 
of  Oz,  and  they  mix  work 
and  play  so  justly  that  both 
are  delightful  and  satisfying 
and  no  one  has  any  reason  to 
complain.  Once  in  a  while 
53 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


something  happens  in  Oz  to  disturb  the  people's  hap- 
piness for  a  brief  time,  for  so  rich  and  attractive  a 
fairyland  is  sure  to  make  a  few  selfish  and  greedy 
outsiders  envious,  and  therefore  certain  evil-doers 
have  treacherously  plotted  to  conquer  Oz  and  enslave 
its  people  and  destroy  its  girl  Ruler,  and  so  gain  the 
wealth  of  Oz  for  themselves.  But  up  to  the  time  when 
the  cruel  and  crafty  Nome,  Euggedo,  conspired  with 
Kiki  Aru,  the  Hyup,  all  such  attempts  had  failed. 
The  Oz  people  suspected  no  danger.  Life  in  the 
world's  nicest  fairyland  was  one  round  of  joyous, 
happy  days. 

In  the  center  of  the  Emerald  City  of  Oz,  the  capital 
city  of  Ozma's  dominions,  is  a  vast  and  beautiful  gar- 
den, surrounded  by  a  wall  inlaid  with  shining  emer- 
alds, and  in  the  center  of  this  garden  stands  Ozma's 
Royal  Palace,  the  most  splendid  building  ever  con- 
structed. From  a  hundred  towers  and  domes  floated 
the  banners  of  Oz,  which  included  the  Ozmies,  the 
Munchkins,  the  Gillikins,  the  Winkles  and  the  Quad- 
lings.  The  banner  of  the  Munchkins  is  blue,  that  of 
the  Winkles  yellow;  the  Gillikin  banner  is  purple, 
and  the  Quadling's  banner  is  red.  The  colors  of  the 
Emerald  City  are  of  course  green.  Ozma's  own  ban- 
ner has  a  green  center,  and  is  divided  into  four  quar- 

54 


Chap 


ter  Five 


ters.  These  quarters  are  colored  blue,  purple,  yellow 
and  red,  indicating  that  she  rules  over  all  the  coun- 
tries of  the  Land  of  Oz. 

This  fairyland  is  so  big,  however,  that  all  of  it  is 
not  yet  known  to  its  girl  Ruler,  and  it  is  said  that  in 
some  far  parts  of  the  country,  in  forests  and  moun- 
tain fastnesses,  in  hidden  valleys  and  thick  jungles, 
are  people  and  beasts  that  know  as  little  about  Ozma 
as  she  knows  of  them.  Still,  these  unknown  subjects 
are  not  nearly  so  numerous  as  the  known  inhabitants 
of  Oz,  who  occupy  all  the  countries  near  to  the  Emer- 
ald City.  Indeed,  I'm  sure  it  will  not  be  long  until 
all  parts  of  the  fairyland  of  Oz  are  explored  and  their 
peoples  made  acquainted  with  their  Ruler,  for  in 
Ozma's  palace  are  several  of  her  friends  who  are  so 
curious  that  they  are  constantly  discovering  new  and 
extraordinary  places  and  inhabitants. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  discoverers  of  these  hidden 

places  in  Oz  is  a  little  Kansas  girl  named  Dorothy, 

who  is  Ozma's  dearest  friend  and  lives  in  luxurious 

rooms  in  the  Royal  Palace.     Dorothy  is,  indeed,  a 

Princess  of  Oz,  but  she  does  not  like  to  be  called  a 

princess,  and  because  she  is  simple  and  sweet  and  does 

not  pretend  to  be  anything  but  an  ordinary  little  girl, 

she  is  called  just  "  Dorothy  "  by  everybody  and  is  the 

55 


Tlie  Magic  of  Oz 


most  popular  person,  next  to  Ozma,  in  all  the  Land 
of  Oz. 

One  morning  Dorothy  crossed  the  hall  of  the  palace 
and  knocked  on  the  door  of  another  girl  named  Trot, 
also  a  guest  and  friend  of  Ozma.    When  told  to  enter. 


Dorothy  found  that  Trot  had  company,  an  old  sailor- 
man  with  one  wooden  leg  and  one  meat  leg,  who  was 
sitting  by  the  open  window  puffing  smoke  from  a 
corn-cob  pipe.    This  sailor-man  was  named  Cap'n  Bill, 

and  he  had  accompanied  Trot  to  the  Land  of  Oz  and 

56 


Chapter  Five 


was  her  oldest  and  most  faithful  comrade  and  friend. 
Dorothy  liked  Cap'n  Bill,  too,  and  after  she  had  greeted 
him,  she  said  to  Trot: 

"You  know,  Ozma^s  birthday  is  next  month,  and 
IVe  been  wondering  what  I  can  give  her  as  a  birthday 
present.  She's  so  good  to  us  all  that  we  certainly 
ought  to  remember  her  birthday." 

"  That's  true,"  agreed  Trot.  "  I've  been  wonder- 
ing, too,  what  I  could  give  Ozma.  It's  pretty  hard  to 
decide,  'cause  she's  got  already  all  she  wants,  and  as 
she's  a  fairy  and  knows  a  lot  about  magic,  she  could 
satisfy  any  wish." 

"  I  know,"  returned  Dorothy,  "  but  that  isn't  the 
point.  It  isn't  that  Ozma  needs  anything,  but  that 
it  will  please  her  to  know  we've  remembered  her  birth- 
day.   But  what  shall  we  give  her?" 

Trot  shook  her  head  in  despair. 

"  I've  tried  to  think  and  I  can't,"  she  declared. 

"  It's  the  same  way  with  me,"  said  Dorothy. 

"  I  know  one  thing  that  'ud  please  her,"  remarked 
Cap'n  Bill,  turning  his  round  face  with  its  fringe  of 
whiskers  toward  the  two  girls  and  staring  at  them 
with  his  big,  light-blue  eyes  wide  open. 

"What  is  it,  Cap'n  Bill?" 

"  It's  an  Enchanted  Flower,"  said  he.    "  It's  a  pretty 

57 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


plant  that  stands  in  a  golden  flower-pot  an'  grows  all 
sorts  o'  flowers,  one  after  another.  One  minute  a  fine 
rose  buds  an'  blooms,  an'  then  a  tulip,  an'  next  a 
chrys  —  chrys  —  " 

"  —  anthemum,"  said  Dorothy,  helping  him. 

"That's  it;  and  next  a  dahlia,  an'  then  a  daffydil, 
an'  on  all  through  the  range  o'  posies.  Jus'  as  soon 
as  one  fades  away,  another  comes,  of  a  different  sort, 
an'  the  perfume  from  'em  is  mighty  snifty,  an'  they 
keeps  bloomin'  night  and  day,  year  in  an'  year  out." 

"  That's  wonderful!  "  exclaimed  Dorothy.  "  I  think 
Ozma  would  like  it." 

"  But  where  is  the  Magic  Flower,  and  how  can  we 
get  it?"  asked  Trot. 

"  Dun'no,  zac'ly,"  slowly  replied  Cap'n  Bill.  "  The 
Glass  Cat  tol'  me  about  it  only  yesterday,  an'  said  it 
was  in  some  lonely  place  up  at  the  nor'east  o'  here. 
The  Glass  Cat  goes  travelin'  all  around  Oz,  you  know, 
an'  the  little  critter  sees  a  lot  o'  things  no  one  else 
does." 

"  That's  true,"  said  Dorothy,  thoughtfully.  "  North- 
east of  here  must  be  in  the  Munchkin  Country,  and 
perhaps  a  good  way  oif,  so  let's  ask  the  Glass  Cat  to 
tell  us  how  to  get  to  the  Magic  Flower." 

So  the  two  girls,  with  Cap'n  Bill  stumping  along  on 

58 


Chapter  Five 


his  wooden  leg  after  them,  went  out  into  the  garden, 
and  after  some  time  spent  in  searching,  they  found 
the  Glass  Cat  curled  up  in  the  sunshine  beside  a  bush, 
fast  asleep. 
The  Glass  Cat  is  one  of  the  most  curious  creatures 


.£:j: 


in  all  Oz.    It  was  made  by  a  famous  magician  named 

Dr.  Pipt  before  Ozma  had  forbidden  her  subjects  to 

work  magic.     Dr.  Pipt  had  made  the  Glass  Cat  to 

catch  mice,  but  the  Cat  refused  to  catch  mice  and  was 

considered  more  curious  than  useful. 

59 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


This  astonishing  cat  was  made  all  of  glass  and  was 
so  clear  and  transparent  that  you  could  see  through 
it  as  easily  as  through  a  window.  In  the  top  of  its 
head,  however,  was  a  mass  of  delicate  pink  balls  which 
looked  like  jewels  but  were  intended  for  brains.  It 
had  a  heart  made  of  a  blood-red  ruby.  The  eyes  were 
two  large  emeralds.  But,  aside  from  these  colors,  all 
the  rest  of  the  animal  was  of  clear  glass,  and  it  had 
a  spun-glass  tail  that  was  really  beautiful. 

"Here,  wake  up,"  said  Cap'n  Bill.  "We  want  to 
talk  to  you." 

Slowly  the  Glass  Cat  got  upon  its  feet,  yawned  and 
then  looked  at  the  three  who  stood  before  it. 

"  How  dare  you  disturb  me  ?  "  it  asked  in  a  peevish 
voice.    "  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourselves." 

"  Never  mind  that,"  returned  the  Sailor.  "  Do  you 
remember  tellin'  me  yesterday  'bout  a  Magic  Flower 
in  a  Gold  Pot?" 

"  Do  you  think  I'm  a  fool  ?  Look  at  my  brains  — 
you  can  see  'em  work.  Of  course  I  remember  I "  said 
the  cat. 

"Well,  where  can  we  find  it?" 

"  You  can't.  It's  none  of  your  business,  anyhow. 
Go  away  and  let  me  sleep,"  advised  the  Glass  Cat. 

"  Now,  see  here,"  said  Dorothy;  "  we  want  the  Magic 

60 


Chapter  Five 


Flower  to  give  to  Ozma  on  her  birthday.    You'd  be 
glad  to  please  Ozma,  wouldn't  you?" 

"  I'm  not  sure,"  replied  the  creature.    "  Why  should 
I  want  to  please  anybody?" 


"You've  got  a  heart,  'cause  I  can  see  it  inside  of 
you,"  said  Trot. 

"Yes;  it's  a  pretty  heart,  and  I'm  fond  of  it,"  said 
the  cat,  twisting  around  to  view  its  own  body.  "  But 
it's  made  from  a  ruby,  and  it's  hard  as  nails." 

"  Aren't  you  good  for  anything'^ "  asked  Trot. 

61 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"Yes,  Tm  pretty  to  look  at,  and  that's  more  than 
can  be  said  of  you,"  retorted  the  creature. 

Trot  laughed  at  this,  and  Dorothy,  who  understood 
the  Glass  Cat  pretty  well,  said  soothingly: 

"  You  are  indeed  beautiful,  and  if  you  can  tell  Cap'n 
Bill  where  to  find  the  Magic  Flower,  all  the  people  in 
Oz  will  praise  your  cleverness.  The  Flower  will  belong 
to  Ozma,  but  everyone  will  know  the  Glass  Cat  dis- 
covered it." 

This  was  the  kind  of  praise  the  crystal  creature 
liked. 

"  Well,"  it  said,  while  the  pink  brains  rolled  around, 
"  I  found  the  Magic  Flower  way  up  in  the  north  of 
the  Munchkin  Country  where  few  people  live  or  ever 
go.  There's  a  river  there  that  flows  through  a  forest, 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  river  in  the  middle  of  the 
forest  there  is  a  small  island  on  which  stands  the  gold 
pot  in  which  grows  the  Magic  Flower." 

"How  did  you  get  to  the  island?"  asked  Dorothy. 
"  Glass  cats  can't  swim." 

"  No,  but  I'm  not  afraid  of  water,"  was  the  reply. 
"  I  just  walked  across  the  river  on  the  bottom." 

"Under  the  water?"  exclaimed  Trot. 

The  cat  gave  her  a  scornful  look. 

"  How  could  T  walk  over  the  water  on  the  'bottom 

62 


Chapter  Five 


of  the  river?  If  you  were  transparent,  anyone  could 
see  your  brains  were  not  working.  But  I'm  sure  you 
could  never  find  the  place  alone.  It  has  always  been 
hidden  from  the  Oz  people." 


"  But  5^ou,  with  your  fine  pink  brains,  could  find  it 
again,  I  s'pose,"  remarked  Dorothy. 

"  Yes;  and  if  you  want  that  Magic  Flower  for  Ozma, 

I'll  go  with  you  and  show  you  the  way." 

"That's  lovely  of  you!"  declared  Dorothy.    "Trot 

63 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


and  Cap'n  Bill  will  go  with  you,  for  this  is  to  be  their 
birthday  present  to  Ozma.  While  you're  gone  I'll  have 
to  find  something  else  to  give  her." 

"  All  right.  Come  on,  then,  Cap'n,"  said  the  Glass 
Cat,  starting  to  move  away. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  begged  Trot.  "  How  long  will 
we  be  gone?" 

"  Oh,  about  a  week." 

"  Then  I'll  put  some  things  in  a  basket  to  take  with 
us,"  said  the  girl,  and  ran  into  the  palace  to  make  her 
preparations  for  the  journey. 


64 


Ozma's  Birthday  Presents 


■f- 


"^.-% 


,1  /       ; 


v^u^ 


-^€^] 


CHAPTER  6 

When  Cap'n  Bill  and  Trot 
and  the  Glass  Cat  had  started 
for  the  hidden  island  in  the 
far-off  river  to  get  the  Magic 
Flower,  Dorothy  wondered 
again  what  she  could  give 
Ozma  on  her  birthday.  She 
met  the  Patchwork  Girl  and 
said: 

"What  are  you  going  to 
give  Ozma  for  a  birthday 
present?" 

"I've   written   a   song  for 

65 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


her,"  answered  the  strange  Patchwork  Girl,  who  went 
by  the  name  of  "  Scraps,"  and  who,  though  stuffed 
with  cotton,  had  a  fair  assortment  of  mixed  brains. 
"  It's  a  splendid  song  and  the  chorus  runs  this  way: 

"I  am  crazy; 
You're  a  daisy, 

Ozma  dear; 
Fm  demented; 
You're  contented, 
Ozma  dear; 
I  am  patched  and  gay  and  glary; 
You're  a  sweet  and  lovely  fairy; 
May  your  birthdays  all  be  happy, 
Ozma  dear! " 

"  How  do  you  like  it,  Dorothy?  "  inquired  the  Patch- 
work Girl. 

"  Is  it  good  poetry,  Scraps'? "  asked  Dorothy,  doubt- 
fully. 

"  It's  as  good  as  any  ordinary  song,"  was  the  reply. 
"  I  have  given  it  a  dandy  title,  too.  I  shall  call  the 
song:  '  When  Ozma  Has  a  Birthday,  Everybody's  Sure 
to  Be  Gay,  for  She  Cannot  Help  the  Fact  That  She 
Was  Born.' " 

66 


Chapter  Six 


"  That's  a  pretty  long  title,  Scraps,"  said  Dorothy. 

"That  makes  it  stylish,"  replied  the  Patchwork 
Girl,  turning  a  somersault  and  alighting  on  one  stuffed 
foot.  "Now-a-days  the  titles  are  sometimes  longer 
than  the  songs." 


Dorothy  left  her  and  walked  slowly  toward  the  pal- 
ace, where  she  met  the  Tin  Woodman  just  going  up 
the  front  steps. 

"What  are  you  going  to  give  Ozma  on  her  birth- 
day?" she  asked. 

67 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"It's  a  secret,  but  Til  tell  you,"  replied  the  Tin 
Woodman,  who  was  Emperor  of  the  Winkles.  "  I  am 
having  my  people  make  Ozma  a  lovely  girdle  set  with 
beautiful  tin  nuggets.  Each  tin  nugget  will  be  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  emeralds,  just  to  set  it  off  to 
good  advantage.  The  clasp  of  the  girdle  will  be  pure 
tin!    Won't  that  be  fine?" 

"I'm  sure  she'll  like  it,"  said  Dorothy.  "Do  you 
know  what  I  can  give  her?" 

"  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea,  Dorothy.  It  took  me 
three  months  to  think  of  my  ow^n  present  for  Ozma." 

The  girl  walked  thoughtfully  around  to  the  back 
of  the  palace,  and  presently  came  upon  the  famous 
Scarecrow  of  Oz,  who  was  having  two  of  the  palace 
servants  stuff  his  legs  with  fresh  straw. 

"What  are  you  going  to  give  Ozma  on  her  birth- 
day? "  asked  Dorothy. 

"  I  want  to  surprise  her,"  answered  the  Scarecrow. 

"  I  won't  tell,"  promised  Dorothy. 

"Well,  I'm  having  some  straw  slippers  made  for 
her  —  all  straw,  mind  you,  and  braided  very  artisti- 
cally. Ozma  has  always  admired  my  straw  filling, 
so  I'm  sure  she'll  be  pleased  with  these  lovely  straw 
slippers."' 

"  Ozma  will  be  pleased  with  anything  her  loving 

68 


Chapter  Six 


friends  give  her,"  said  the  girl.  "  What  I'm  worried 
about,  Scarecrow,  is  what  to  give  Ozma  that  she  hasn't 
got  already." 

"That's  what  worried  me,  until  I  thought  of  the 
slippers,"  said  the  Scarecrow.    "  You'll  have  to  think, 


Dorothy;  that's  the  only  way  to  get  a  good  idea.  If 
I  hadn't  such  wonderful  brains,  I'd  never  have  thought 
of  those  straw  foot-decorations." 

Dorothy  left  him  and  went  to  her  room,  where  she 
sat  down  and  tried  to  think  hard.    A  Pink  Kitten  was 

69 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


curled  up  on  the  window-sill  and  Dorothy  asked  her: 

"  What  can  I  give  Ozma  for  her  birthday  present?  " 

"  Oh,  give  her  some  milk,"  replied  the  Pink  Kitten; 
"  that's  the  nicest  thing  I  know  of.'' 

A  fuzzy  little  black  dog  had  squatted  down  at  Doro- 
thy's feet  and  now  looked  up  at  her  with  intelligent 
eyes. 

"Tell  me,  Toto,"  said  the  girl;  "what  would  Ozma 
like  best  for  a  birthday  present*? " 

The  little  black  dog  wagged  his  tail. 

"  Your  love,"  said  he.  "  Ozma  wants  to  be  loved 
more  than  anything  else." 

"  But  I  already  love  her,  Toto!  " 

"  Then  tell  her  you  love  her  twice  as  much  as  you 
ever  did  before." 

"That  wouldn't  be  true,"  objected  Dorothy,  "for 
I've  always  loved  her  as  much  as  I  could,  and,  really, 
Toto,  I  want  to  give  Ozma  some  present,  'cause  every- 
one else  will  give  her  a  present." 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Toto.  "  How  would  it  be  to  give 
her  that  useless  Pink  Kitten  *?  " 

"No,  Toto;  that  wouldn't  do." 

"  Then  six  kisses." 

"  No;  that's  no  present." 

"  Well,  I  guess  you'll  have  to  figure  it  out  for  your- 

70 


Chapter  Six 


self,  Dorothy/'  said  the  little  dog.     "To  my  notion 
you're  more  particular  than  Ozma  will  be." 

Dorothy  decided  that  if  anyone  could  help  her  it 
would  be  Glinda  the  Good,  the  wonderful  Sorceress 


of  Oz  who  was  Ozma's  faithful  subject  and  friend.  But 
Glinda's  castle  was  in  the  Quadling  Country  and  quite 
a  journey  from  the  Emerald  City. 

So  the  little  girl  went  to  Ozma  and  asked  permission 
to  use  the  Wooden  Sawhorse  and  the  royal  Red  Wagon 

71 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


to  pay  a  visit  to  Glinda,  and  the  girl  Kuler  kissed  Prin- 
cess Dorothy  and  graciously  granted  permission. 

The  Wooden  Sawhorse  was  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able creatures  in  Oz.  Its  body  was  a  small  log  and  its 
legs  were  limbs  of  trees  stuck  in  the  body.  Its  eyes 
were  knots,  its  mouth  was  sawed  in  the  end  of  the  log 
and  its  ears  were  two  chips.  A  small  branch  had  been 
left  at  the  rear  end  of  the  log  to  serve  as  a  tail. 

Ozma  herself,  during  one  of  her  early  adventures, 
had  brought  this  wooden  horse  to  life,  and  so  she  was 
much  attached  to  the  queer  animal  and  had  shod  the 
bottoms  of  its  wooden  legs  with  plates  of  gold  so  they 
would  not  wear  out.  The  sawhorse  was  a  swift  and 
willing  traveler,  and  though  it  could  talk  if  need  arose, 
it  seldom  said  anything  unless  spoken  to.  When  the 
Sawhorse  was  harnessed  to  the  Red  Wagon  there  were 
no  reins  to  guide  him  because  all  that  was  needed  was 
to  tell  him  where  to  go. 

Dorothy  now  told  him  to  go  to  Glinda's  Castle  and 
the  Sawhorse  carried  her  there  with  marvelous  speed. 

"  Glinda,"  said  Dorothy,  when  she  had  been  greeted 
by  the  Sorceress,  who  was  tall  and  stately,  with  hand- 
some and  dignified  features  and  dressed  in  a  splendid 
and  becoming  gown,  "  what  are  you  going  to  give 
Ozma  for  a  birthday  present?  " 

72 


Chapter  Six 


The  Sorceress  smiled  and  answered: 
"  Come  into  my  patio    and  I  will  show  you." 
So  they  entered  a  place  that  was  surrounded  by  the 
wings  of  the  great  castle  but  had  no  roof,  and  was 


filled  with  flowers  and  fountains  and  exquisite  statu- 
ary and  many  settees  and  chairs  of  polished  marble 
or  filigree  gold.  Here  there  were  gathered  fifty  beau- 
tiful young  girls,  Glinda's  handmaids,  who  had  been 
selected  from  all  parts  of  the  Land  of  Oz  on  account 

73 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


of  their  wit  and  beauty  and  sweet  dispositions.  It 
was  a  great  honor  to  be  made  one  of  Glinda's  hand- 
maidens. 

When  Dorothy  followed  the  Sorceress  into  this 
delightful  patio  all  the  fifty  girls  were  busily  weaving, 
and  their  shuttles  were  filled  with  a  sparkling  green 
spun  glass  such  as  the  little  girl  had  never  seen  before. 

"  What  is  it,  Glinda?  "  she  asked. 

"  One  of  my  recent  discoveries,"  explained  the  Sor- 
ceress. "  I  have  found  a  way  to  make  threads  from 
emeralds,  by  softening  the  stones  and  then  spinning 
them  into  long,  silken  strands.  With  these  emerald 
threads  we  are  weaving  cloth  to  make  Ozma  a  splen- 
did court  gown  for  her  birthday.  You  will  notice  that 
the  threads  have  all  the  beautiful  glitter  and  luster  of 
the  emeralds  from  which  they  are  made,  and  so  Ozma's 
new  dress  will  be  the  most  magnificent  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  and  quite  fitting  for  our  lovely  Ruler  of  the 
Fairyland  of  Oz." 

Dorothy's  eyes  were  fairly  dazed  by  the  brilliance 
of  the  emerald  cloth,  some  of  which  the  girls  had 
already  woven. 

"I've  never  seen  anything  so  beautiful!"  she  said, 
with  a  sigh.  "  But  tell  me,  Glinda,  what  can  /  give 
our  lovely  Ozma  on  her  birthday?" 

74 


Chapter  Six 


The  good  Sorceress  considered  this  question  for  a 
long  time  before  she  replied.    Finally  she  said: 

"  Of  course  there  will  be  a  grand  feast  at  the  Royal 
Palace  on  Ozma's  birthday,  and  all  our  friends  will 
be  present.  So  I  suggest  that  you  make  a  fine 
big  birthday  cake  for  Ozma,  and  surround  it  with 
candles." 

"  Oh,  just  a  cake!^'  exclaimed  Dorothy,  in  disap- 
pointment. 

"  Nothing  is  nicer  for  a  birthday,"  said  the  Sorceress. 

"How  many  candles  should  there  be  on  the  cake?" 
asked  the  girl. 

"  Just  a  row  of  them,"  replied  Glinda,  "  for  no  one 
knows  how  old  Ozma  is,  although  she  appears  to  us 
to  be  just  a  young  girl  —  as  fresh  and  fair  as  if  she 
had  lived  but  a  few  years." 

"  A  cake  doesn't  seem  like  much  of  a  present,"  Doro- 
thy asserted. 

"  Make  it  a  surprise  cake,"  suggested  the  Sorceress. 
"  Don't  you  remember  the  four  and  twenty  blackbirds 
that  were  baked  in  a  pie?  Well,  you  need  not  use  live 
blackbirds  in  your  cake,  but  you  could  have  some  sur- 
prise of  a  different  sort." 

"like  what?"  questioned  Dorothy,  eagerly. 

"  If  I  told  you,  it  wouldn't  be  your  present  to  Ozma, 

75 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


but  mine/'  answered  the  Sorceress,  with  a  smile. 
"  Think  it  over,  my  dear,  and  I  am  sure  you  can  origi- 
nate a  surprise  that  will  add  greatly  to  the  joy  and 
merriment  of  Ozma's  birthday  banquet." 

Dorothy  thanked  her  friend  and  entered  the  Red 
Wagon  and  told  the  Sawhorse  to  take  her  back  home 
to  the  palace  in  the  Emerald  City. 

On  the  way  she  thought  the  matter  over  seriously 
of  making  a  surprise  birthday  cake  and  finally  decided 
what  to  do. 

As  soon  as  she  reached  home,  she  went  to  the  Wizard 
of  Oz,  who  had  a  room  fitted  up  in  one  of  the  high 
towers  of  the  palace,  where  he  studied  magic  so  as  to 
be  able  to  perform  such  wizardry  as  Ozma  commanded 
him  to  do  for  the  welfare  of  her  subjects. 

The  Wizard  and  Dorothy  were  firm  friends  and  had 
enjoyed  many  strange  adventures  together.  He  was 
a  little  man  with  a  bald  head  and  sharp  eyes  and  a 
round,  jolly  face,  and  because  he  was  neither  haughty 
nor  proud  he  had  become  a  great  favorite  with  the  Oz 
people. 

"Wizard,"  said  Dorothy,  "I  want  you  to  help  me 
fix  up  a  present  for  Ozma's  birthday." 

"  ril  be  glad  to  do  anything  for  you  and  for  Ozma," 
he  answered.    "  What's  on  your  mind,  Dorothy?  " 

76 


{ 


Chapter  Six 


u  T>, 


I'm  going  to  make  a  great  cake,  with  frosting  and 
candles,  and  all  that,  you  know." 
"  Very  good,"  said  the  Wizard. 
"In  the  center  of  this  cake  I'm  going  to  leave  a 


hollow  place,  with  just  a  roof  of  the  frosting  over  it," 
continued  the  girl. 

"Very  good,"  repeated  the  Wizard,  nodding  his 
bald  head. 

"In  that  hollow  place,"  said  Dorothy,  "I  want  to 

hide  a  lot  of  monkeys  about  three  inches  high,  and 

77 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


after  the  cake  is  placed  on  the  banquet  table,  I  want 
the  monkeys  to  break  through  the  frosting  and  dance 
around  on  the  table-cloth.  Then,  I  want  each  monkey 
to  cut  out  a  piece  of  cake  and  hand  it  to  a  guest." 

"  Mercy  me  I "  cried  the  little  Wizard,  as  he  chuckled 
with  laughter.    "Is  that  all  you  want,  Dorothy?" 

"  Almost,"  said  she.  "  Can  you  think  of  anything 
more  the  little  monkeys  can  do.  Wizard?" 

"  Not  just  now,"  he  replied.  "  But  where  will  you 
get  such  tiny  monkeys?" 

"That's  where  you're  to  help  me,"  said  Dorothy. 
"  In  some  of  those  wild  forests  in  the  Gillikin  Country 
are  lots  of  monkeys." 

"  Big  ones,"  said  the  Wizard. 

"  Well,  you  and  I  will  go  there,  and  we'll  get  some 
of  the  big  monkeys,  and  you  will  make  them  small  — 
just  three  inches  high  —  by  means  of  your  magic,  and 
we'll  put  the  little  monkeys  all  in  a  basket  and  bring 
them  home  with  us.  Then  you'll  train  them  to  dance 
—  up  here  in  your  room,  where  no  one  can  see  them  — 
and  on  Ozma's  birthday  we'll  put  'em  into  the  cake 
and  they'll  know  by  that  time  just  what  to  do." 

The  Wizard  looked  at  Dorothy  with  admiring 
approval,  and  chuckled  again. 

"  That's  really  clever,  my  dear,"  he  said,  "  and  I  see 

78 


Chapta:  Six 


no  reason  why  we  can't  do  it,  just  the  way  you  say,  if 
only  we  can  get  the  wild  monkeys  to  agree  to  it." 

"Do  you  think  they'll  object^"  asked  the  girl. 

"  Yes;  but  perhaps  we  can  argue  them  into  it.  Any- 
how, it's  worth  trying,  and  I'll  help  you  if  you'll  agreo 
to  let  this  Surprise  Cake  be  a  present  to  Ozma  from 
you  and  me  together.  I've  been  wondering  what  / 
could  give  Ozma,  and  as  I've  got  to  train  the  monkeys 
as  well  as  make  them  small,  I  think  you  ought  to  make 
me  your  partner." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Dorothy;  "I'll  be  glad  to  do  so." 

"  Then,  it's  a  bargain,"  declared  the  Wizard.  "  We 
must  go  to  seek  those  monkeys  at  once,  however,  for 
it  will  take  time  to  train  them  and  we'll  have  to  travel 
a  good  way  to  the  Gillikin  forests  where  they  live." 

"  I'm  ready  to  go  any  time,"  agreed  Dorothy.  "  Shall 
we  ask  Ozma  to  let  us  take  the  Sawhorse?  " 

The  Wizard  did  not  answer  that  at  once.  He  took 
time  to  think  of  the  suggestion. 

"No,"  he  answered  at  length,  "the  Eed  Wagon 
couldn't  get  through  the  thick  forests  and  there's  some 
danger  to  us  in  going  into  the  wild  places  to  search 
for  monkeys.  So  I  propose  we  take  the  Cowardly  Lion 
and  the  Hungry  Tiger.  We  can  ride  on  their  backs 
as  well  as  in  the  Eed  Wagon,  and  if  there  is  danger 

79 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


to  us  from  other  beasts,  these  two  friendly  champions 
will  protect  us  from  all  harm." 

"That's  a  splendid  ideal"  exclaimed  Dorothy. 
"Let's  go  now  and  ask  the  Hungry  Tiger  and  the 
Cowardly  Lion  if  they  will  help  us.  Shall  we  ask 
Ozma  if  we  can  go?  " 

"  I  think  not,"  said  the  Wizard,  getting  his  hat  and 
his  black  bag  of  magic  tools.  "  This  is  to  be  a  surprise 
for  her  birthday,  and  so  she  mustn't  know  where 
we're  going.  We'll  just  leave  word,  in  case  Ozma 
inquires  for  us,  that  we'll  be  back  in  a  few  days." 


80 


The  Forest  of  Gugu 


// 


7- 


/jt 


CHAPTER  7 

In  the  central  western  part 
of  the  Gillikin  Country  is  a 
great  tangle  of  trees  called 
Gugu  Forest.  It  is  the  big- 
gest forest  in  all  Oz  and 
stretches  miles  and  miles  in 
every  direction  —  north, 
south,  east  and  west.  Adjoin- 
ing it  on  the  east  side  is  a 
range  of  rugged  mountains 
covered  with  underbrush  and 
small  twisted  trees.    You  can 

81 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


find  this  place  by  looking  at  the  Map  of  the  Land  of  Oz. 

Gugu  Forest  is  the  home  of  most  of  the  wild  beasts 
that  inhabit  Oz.  These  are  seldom  disturbed  in  their 
leafy  haunts  because  there  is  no  reason  why  Oz  people 
should  go  there,  except  on  rare  occasions,  and  most 
parts  of  the  forest  have  never  been  seen  by  any  eyes 
but  the  eyes  of  the  beasts  who  make  their  home  there. 
The  biggest  beasts  inhabit  the  great  forest,  while  the 
smaller  ones  live  mostly  in  the  mountain  underbrush 
at  the  east. 

Now,  you  must  know  that  there  are  laws  in  the 
forests,  as  well  as  in  every  other  place,  and  these  laws 
are  made  by  the  beasts  themselves,  and  are  necessary 
to  keep  them  from  fighting  and  tearing  one  another 
to  pieces.  In  Gugu  Forest  there  is  a  King  —  an  enor- 
mous yellow  leopard  called  "  Gugu  "  —  after  whom 
the  forest  is  named.  And  this  King  has  three  other 
beasts  to  advise  him  in  keeping  the  laws  and  main- 
taining order  —  Bru  the  Bear,  Loo  the  Unicom  and 
Rango  the  Gray  Ape  —  who  are  known  as  the  King's 
Counselors.  All  these  are  fierce  and  ferocious  beasts, 
and  hold  their  high  offices  because  they  are  more  intel- 
ligent and  more  feared  than  their  fellows. 

Since  Oz  became  a  fairyland,  no  man^  woman  or 

child  ever  dies  in  that  land  nor  is  anyone  ever  sick. 

82 


Chapter  Seven 


Likewise  the  beasts  of  the  forests  never  die,  so  that 
long  years  add  to  their  cunning  and  wisdom,  as  well 
as  to  their  size  and  strength.  It  is  possible  for  beasts 
—  or  even  people  —  to  be  destroyed,  but  the  task  is 
so  difficult  that  it  is  seldom  attempted.  Because  it  is 
free  from  sickness  and  death  is  one  reason  why  Oz 
is  a  fairyland,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  those  who 
come  to  Oz  from  the  outside  world,  as  Dorothy  and 
Button-Bright  and  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  and  the  Wizard 
did,  will  live  forever  or  cannot  be  injured.  Even 
Ozma  is  not  sure  about  this,  and  so  the  guests  of 
Ozma  from  other  lands  are  always  carefully  pro- 
tected from  any  danger,  so  as  to  be  on  the  safe  side. 

In  spite  of  the  laws  of  the  forests  there  are  often 
fights  among  the  beasts;  some  of  them  have  lost  an 
eye  or  an  ear  or  even  had  a  leg  torn  off.  The  King 
and  the  King's  Counselors  always  punish  those  who 
start  a  fight,  but  so  fierce  is  the  nature  of  some  beasts 
that  they  will  at  times  fight  in  spite  of  laws  and 
punishment. 

Over  this  vast,  wild  Forest  of  Gugu  flew  two  eagles, 
one  morning,  and  near  the  center  of  the  jungle  the 
eagles  alighted  on  a  branch  of  a  tall  tree. 

"  Here  is  the  place  for  us  to  begin  our  work,"  said 

one,  who  was  Euggedo,  the  Nome. 

83 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"Do  many  beasts  live  here?"  asked  Kiki  Aru, 
the  other  eagle. 

"  The  forest  is  full  of  them,"  said  the  Nome.  "  There 
are  enough  beasts  right  here  to  enable  us  to  con- 
quer the  people  of  Oz,  if  we  can  get  them  to  consent 
to  join  us.  To  do  that,  we  must  go  among  them  and 
tell  them  our  plans,  so  we  must  now  decide  on  what 
shapes  we  had  better  assume  while  in  the  forest." 

"I  suppose  we  must  take  the  shapes  of  beasts?" 
said  Kiki. 

"  Of  course.  But  that  requires  some  thought.  All 
kinds  of  beasts  live  here,  and  a  yellow  leopard  is 
King.  If  we  become  leopards,  the  King  will  be 
jealous  of  us.  If  we  take  the  forms  of  some  of  the 
other  beasts,  we  shall  not  command  proper  respect. 

"I  wonder  if  the  beasts  will  attack  us?"  asked 
Kiki. 

"I'm  a  Nome,  and  immortal,  so  nothing  can  hurt 
me,"  replied  Euggedo. 

"I  was  born  in  the  Land  of  Oz,  so  nothing  can 
hurt  me,"  said  Kiki. 

"  But,  in  order  to  carry  out  our  plans,  we  must 
win  the  favor  of  all  the  animals  of  the  forest." 

"Then  what  shall  we  do?"  asked  Kiki. 

"Let  us  mix  the  shapes  of  several  beasts,  so  we 

84 


Chapter  Seven 


will  not  look  like  any  one  of  them,"  proposed  the 
wily  old  Nome.  "Let  us  have  the  heads  of  lions, 
the  bodies  of  monkeys,  the  wings  of  eagles  and  the 
tails  of  wild  asses,  with  knobs  of  gold  on  the  end 
of  them  instead  of  bunches  of  hair." 

"Won't  that  make  a  queer  combination?"  inquired 
Kiki. 

"The  queerer  the  better,"  declared  Euggedo. 

"All  right,"  said  Kiki.  "You  stay  here,  and  Til 
fly  away  to  another  tree  and  transform  us  both,  and 
then  we'll  climb  down  our  trees  and  meet  in  the 
forest." 

"  No,"  said  the  Nome,  "  we  mustn't  separate.  You 
must  transform  us  while  we  are  together." 

"  I  won't  do  that,'/  asserted  Kiki,  firmly.  "  You're 
trying  to  get  my  secret,  and  I  won't  let  you." 

The  eyes  of  the  other  eagle  flashed  angrily,  but 
Ruggedo  did  not  dare  insist.  If  he  offended  this 
boy,  he  might  have  to  remain  an  eagle  always  and 
he  wouldn't  like  that.  Some  day  he  hoped  to  be 
able  to  learn  the  secret  word  of  the  magical  trans- 
formations, but  just  now  he  must  let  Kiki  have  his 
own  way. 

"All  right,"  he  said  gruMy;  "do  as  you  please." 

So  Kiki  flew  to  a  tree  that  was  far  enough  distant 

85 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


SO  that  Euggedo  could  not  overhear  him  and  said: 
"I  want  Euggedo,  the  Nome,  and  myself  to  have 
the  heads  of  lions,  the  bodies  of  monkeys,  the  wings 
of  eagles  and  the  tails  of  wild  asses,  with  knobs  of 
gold  on  the  ends  of  them  instead  of  bimches  of  hair 
—  Pyrzqxgl!" 

He  pronoimced  the  magic  word  in  the  proper  man- 
ner and  at  once  his  form  changed  to  the  one  he  had 
described.  He  spread  his  eagle's  wings  and  finding 
they  were  strong  enough  to  support  his  monkey  body 
and  lion  head  he  fiew  swiftly  to  the  tree  where  he 
had  left  Euggedo.  The  Nome  was  also  transformed 
and  was  climbing  down  the  tree  because  the  branches 
all  around  him  were  so  thickly  entwined  that  there 
was  no  room  between  them  to  fly. 

Kiki  quickly  joined  his  comrade  and  it  did  not  take 
them  long  to  reach  the  ground. 


86 


The  Li-Mon-Eags  Make  Trouble 


CHAPTER  8 
There  had  been  trouble  in  the 
Forest  of  Gugu  that  morning. 
Chipo  the  Wild  Boar  had  bit- 
ten the  tail  off  Arx  the  Giraffe 
while  the  latter  had  his  head 
among  the  leaves  of  a  tree, 
eating  his  breakfast.  Arx 
kicked  with  his  heels  and 
struck  Tirrip,  the  great  Kan- 
garoo, who  had  a  new  baby 
in  her  pouch.  Tirrip  knew 
it  was  the  Wild  Boar's  fault, 

87 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


so  she  knocked  him  over  with  one  powerful  blow  and 
then  ran  away  to  escape  Chipo's  sharp  tusks.  In 
the  chase  that  followed  a  giant  porcupine  stuck  fifty 
sharp  quills  into  the  Boar  and  a  chimpanzee  in  a  tree 
threw  a  cocoanut  at  the  porcupine  that  jammed  its 
head  into  its  body. 

All  this  was  against  the  Laws  of  the  Forest,  and 
when  the  excitement  was  over,  Gugu  the  Leopard 
King  called  his  royal  Counselors  together  to  decide 
how  best  to  punish  the  offenders. 

The  four  lords  of  the  forest  were  holding  solemn 
council  in  a  small  clearing  when  they  saw  two  strange 
beasts  approaching  them  —  beasts  the  like  of  which 
they  had  never  seen  before. 

Not  one  of  the  four,  however,  relaxed  his  dignity 
or  showed  by  a  movement  that  he  was  startled.  The 
great  Leopard  crouched  at  full  length  upon  a  fallen 
tree-trunk.  Bru  the  Bear  sat  on  his  haunches  before 
the  King;  Eango  the  Gray  Ape  stood  with  his  mus- 
cular arms  folded,  and  Loo  the  Unicorn  reclined, 
much  as  a  horse  does,  between  his  fellow-councillors. 
With  one  consent  they  remained  silent,  eyeing  with 
steadfast  looks  the  intruders,  who  were  making  their 
way  into  their  forest  domain. 

"Well  met,  Brothers!"  said  one  of  the  strange 

88 


Chapter  Eight 


beasts,  coming  to  a  halt  beside  the  group,  while  his 
comrade  with  hesitation  lagged  behind. 

"We  are  not  brothers,"  returned  the  Gray  Ape, 
sternly.  "Who  are  you,  and  how  came  you  in  the 
forest  of  Gugu?" 


"  We  are  two  Li-Mon-Eags,"  said  Ruggedo,  invent- 
ing the  name.  "  Our  home  is  in  Sky  Island,  and  we 
have  come  to  earth  to  warn  the  forest  beasts  that  the 
people  of  Oz  are  about  to  make  war  upon  them  and 
enslave  them,  so  that  they  will  become  beasts  of  bur- 

89 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


den  forever  after  and  obey  only  the  will  of  their  two- 
legged  masters." 

A  low  roar  of  anger  arose  from  the  Council  of 
Beasts. 

^'Who's  going  to  do  that?"  asked  Loo  the  Unicorn, 
in  a  high,  squeaky  voice,  at  the  same  time  rising  to 
his  feet. 

"  The  people  of  Oz,"  said  Euggedo. 

"  But  what  will  we  be  doing?  "  inquired  the  Unicom. 

"  That's  what  Fve  come  to  talk  to  you  about." 

"You  needn't  talk!  We'll  fight  the  Oz  people!" 
screamed  the  Unicorn.  "  We'll  smash  'em;  we'll  tram- 
ple 'em;  we'll  gore  'em;  we'll  —  " 

"Silence!"    growled    Gugu    the    King,    and    Loo 

obeyed,  although  still  trembling  with  wrath.     The 

cold,  steady  gaze  of  the  Leopard  wandered  over  the 

two  strange  beasts.     "The  people  of  Oz,"  said  he, 

"have  not  been  our  friends;  they  have  not  been  our 

enemies.     They  have  let  us  alone,  and  we  have  let 

them  alone.    There  is  no  reason  for  war  between  us. 

They  have  no  slaves.    They  could  not  use  us  as  slaves 

if  they  should  conquer  us.    I  think  you  are  telling  us 

lies,  you  strange  Li-Mon-Eag  —  you  mixed -up  beast 

who  are  neither  one  thing  nor  another." 

"  Oh,  on  my  word,  it's  the  truth! "  protested  the 

90 


Chapter  Eight 


Nome  in  the  beast's  shape.  "I  wouldn't  lie  for  the 
world;  I  —  " 

"Silence!"  again  growled  Gugu  the  King;  and, 
somehow,  even  Ruggedo  was  abashed  and  obeyed  the 
edict. 

"  What  do  you  say,  Bru  ?  "  asked  the  king,  turning 
to  the  great  Bear,  who  had  until  now  said  nothing. 

"How  does  the  Mixed  Beast  know  that  what  he 
says  is  true?"  asked  the  Bear. 

"  Why,  I  can  fly,  you  know,  having  the  wings  of  an 
Eagle,"  explained  the  Nome.  "1  and  my  comrade 
yonder,"  turning  to  Kiki,  "  flew  to  a  grove  in  Oz,  and 
there  we  heard  the  people  telling  how  they  will  make 
many  ropes  to  snare  you  beasts,  and  then  they  will 
surround  this  forest,  and  all  other  forests,  and  make 
you  prisoners.  So  we  came  here  to  warn  you,  for 
being  beasts  ourselves,  although  we  live  in  the  sky, 
we  are  your  friends." 

The  Leopard's  lip  curled  and  showed  his  enormous 
teeth,  sharp  as  needles.    He  turned  to  the  Gray  Ape. 

"What  do  you  think.  Ran  go?"  he  asked. 

"  Send  these  mixed  beasts  away,  your  Majesty," 
replied  the  Gray  Ape.    "  They  are  mischief-makers." 

"  Don't  do  that  —  don't  do  that!  "  cried  the  Unicorn, 
nervously.    "  The  stranger  said  he  would  tell  us  what 

91 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


to  do.  Let  him  tell  us,  then.  Are  we  fools,  not  to 
heed  a  warning?" 

Gugu  the  King  turned  to  Ruggedo. 

"  Speak,  Stranger,"  he  commanded. 

"Well,"  said  the  Nome,  "it's  this  way:  The  Land 
of  Oz  is  a  fine  country.  The  people  of  Oz  have  many 
good  things  —  houses  with  soft  beds,  all  sorts  of  nice- 
tasting  food,  pretty  clothes,  lovely  jewels,  and  many 
other  things  that  beasts  know  nothing  of.  Here  in 
the  dark  forests  the  poor  beasts  have  hard  work  to 
get  enough  to  eat  and  to  find  a  bed  to  rest  in.  But 
the  beasts  are  better  than  the  people,  and  why  should 
they  not  have  all  the  good  things  the  people  have? 
So  I  propose  that  before  the  Oz  people  have  the  time 
to  make  all  those  ropes  to  snare  you  with,  that  all 
we  beasts  get  together  and  march  against  the  Oz 
people  and  capture  them.  Then  the  beasts  will 
become  the  masters  and  the  people  their  slaves." 

"  What  good  would  that  do  us?  "  asked  Bru  the  Bear. 

"It  would  save  you  from  slavery,  for  one  thing, 
and  you  could  enjoy  all  the  fine  things  the  Oz  people 
have." 

"  Beasts  wouldn't  know  what  to  do  with  the  things 
people  use,"  said  the  Gray  Ape. 

"But  this  is  only  part  of  my  plan,"  insisted  the 

92 


Chapter  Eight 


Nome.  "  Listen  to  the  rest  of  it.  We  two  Li-Mon-Eags 
are  powerful  magicians.  When  you  have  conquered 
the  Oz  people  we  will  transform  them  all  into  beasts, 
and  send  them  to  the  forests  to  live,  and  we  will  trans- 
form all  the  beasts  into  people,  so  they  can  enjoy  all 
the  wonderful  delights  of  the  Emerald  City." 

For  a  moment  no  beast  spoke.    Then  the  King  said: 
"Prove  it." 
♦  "Prove  what?"  asked  Ruggedo. 

"  Prove  that  you  can  transform  us.  If  you  are  a 
magician  transform  the  Unicorn  into  a  man.  Then 
we  will  believe  you.    If  you  fail,  we  will  destroy  you." 

"All  right,"  said  the  Nome.  "But  Pm  tired,  so 
Pll  let  my  comrade  make  the  transformation." 

Kiki  Aru  had  stood  back  from  the  circle,  but  he 
had  heard  all  that  was  said.  He  now  realized  that  he 
must  make  good  Ruggedo's  boast,  so  he  retreated  to 
the  edge  of  the  clearing  and  whispered  the  magic 
word. 

Instantly  the  Unicorn  became  a  fat,  chubby  little 
man,  dressed  in  the  purple  Gillikin  costume,  and  it 
was  hard  to  tell  which  was  the  more  astonished,  the 
King,  the  Bear,  the  Ape  or  the  former  Unicorn. 

"It's  true!"  shouted  the  man-beast.  "Good  grac- 
ious, look  what  I  am!    It's  wonderful!" 

93 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


The  King  of  the  Beasts  now  addressed  Ruggedo  in 
a  more  friendly  tone. 

"  We  must  believe  your  story,  since  you  have  given 
us  proof  of  your  power,"  said  he.  "  But  why,  if  you 
are  so  great  a  magician,  cannot  you  conquer  the 
Oz  people  without  our  help,  and  so  save  us  the 
trouble?" 

"  Alas!  "  replied  the  crafty  old  Nome,  "  no  magician 
is  able  to  do  everything.  The  transformations  are 
easy  to  us  because  we  are  Li-Mon-Eags,  but  we  can- 
not fight,  or  conquer  even  such  weak  creatures  as  the 
Oz  people.  But  we  will  stay  with  you  and  advise  and 
help  you,  and  we  will  transform  all  the  Oz  people  into 
beasts,  when  the  time  comes,  and  all  the  beasts  into 
people." 

Gugu  the  King  turned  to  his  Counselors. 

"How  shall  we  answer  this  friendly  stranger?"  he 
asked. 

Loo  the  former  Unicorn  was  dancing  around  and 
cutting  capers  like  a  clown. 

"  On  my  word,  your  Majesty,"  he  said,  "  this  being 
a  man  is  more  fun  than  being  a  Unicorn." 

"  You  look  like  a  fool,"  said  the  Gray  Ape. 

"Well,  I  feel  fine!"  declared  the  man-beast. 

"  I  think  I  prefer  to  be  a  Bear,"  said  Big  Bru.    "  I 

94 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


was  born  a  Bear,  and  I  know  a  Bear's  ways.    So  I  am 
satisfied  to  live  as  a  Bear  lives." 

"  That,"  said  the  old  Nome,  "  is  because  you  know 
nothing  better.  When  we  have  conquered  the  Oz 
people,  and  you  become  a  man,  you'll  be  glad  of  it." 

The  immense  Leopard  rested  his  chin  on  the  log 
and  seemed  thoughtful. 

"The  beasts  of  the  forest  must  decide  this  matter 
for  themselves,"  he  said.  "  Go  you,  Eango  the  Gray 
Ape,  and  tell  your  monkey  tribe  to  order  all  the  forest 
beasts  to  assemble  in  the  Great  Clearing  at  sunrise 
to-morrow.  When  all  are  gathered  together,  this 
mixed-up  Beast  who  is  a  magician  shall  talk  to  them 
and  tell  them  what  he  has  told  us.  Then,  if  they 
decide  to  fight  the  Oz  people,  who  have  declared  war 
on  us,  I  will  lead  the  beasts  to  battle." 

Rango  the  Gray  Ape  turned  at  once  and  glided 
swiftly  through  the  forest  on  his  mission.  The  Bear 
gave  a  grunt  and  walked  away.  Gugu  the  King  rose 
and  stretched  himself.  Then  he  said  to  Ruggedo: 
"  Meet  us  at  sunrise  to-morrow,"  and  with  stately 
stride  vanished  among  the  trees. 

The  man-unicorn,  left  alone  with  the  strangers, 
suddenly  stopped  his  foolish  prancing. 

"  You'd  better  make  me  a  Unicom  again,"  he  said. 

96 


Chapter  Eight 


"  I  like  being  a  man,  but  the  forest  beasts  won't  know 
Fm  their  friend,  Loo,  and  they  might  tear  me  in 
pieces  before  morning." 

So  Kiki  changed  him  back  to  his  former  shape,  and 
the  Unicorn  departed  to  join  his  people. 


Euggedo  the  Nome  was  much  pleased  with  his 
success. 
"  To-morrow,"  he  said  to  Kiki  Aru,  "  we'll  win  over 

these  beasts  and  set  them  to  fight  and  conquer  the  Oz 

97 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


people.  Then  I  will  have  my  revenge  on  Ozma  and 
Dorothy  and  all  the  rest  of  my  enemies." 

"  But  I  am  doing  all  tb^j  work,"  said  Kiki. 

"Never  mind;  you're  going  to  be  King  of  Oz," 
promised  Ruggedo. 

"Will  the  big  Leopard  let  me  be  King?"  asked 
the  boy  anxiously. 

The  Nome  came  close  to  him  and  whispered: 

"  If  Gugu  the  Leopard  opposes  us,  you  will  trans- 
form him  into  a  tree,  and  then  he  will  be  helpless." 

"  Of  course,"  agreed  Kiki,  and  he  said  to  himself: 
"  I  shall  also  transform  this  deceitful  Nome  into  a 
tree,  for  he  lies  and  I  cannot  trust  him." 


98 


The  Isle  of  the  Magic  Flower 


CHAPTEE  9 

The  Glass  Cat  was  a  good 
guide  and  led  Trot  and  Cap'n 
Bill  by  straight  and  easy 
paths  through  all  the  settled 
part  of  the  Munchkin  Coun- 
try, and  then  into  the  north 
section  where  there  were  few 
houses,  and  finally  through  a 
wild  country  where  there 
were  no  houses  or  paths  at 
all.  But  the  walking  was 
not  difficult  and  at  last  they 
came  to  the  edge  of  a  forest 
99 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


and  stopped  there  to  make  camp  and  sleep  until 
morning. 

From  branches  of  trees  Cap'n  Bill  made  a  tiny  house 
that  was  just  big  enough  for  the  little  girl  to  crawl 
into  and  lie  down.  But  first  they  ate  some  of  the 
food  Trot  had  carried  in  the  basket. 

"Don^t  you  want  some,  too?"  she  asked  the  Glass 
Cat. 

"No,"  answered  the  creature. 

"  I  suppose  you^ll  hunt  around  an'  catch  a  mouse," 
remarked  Cap'n  Bill. 

"Me?  Catch  a  mouse!  Why  should  I  do  that?" 
inquired  the  Glass  Cat. 

"Why,  then  you  could  eat  it,"  said  the  sailor-man. 

"  I  beg  to  inform  you,"  returned  the  crystal  tabby, 
"  that  I  do  not  eat  mice.  Being  transparent,  so  any- 
one can  see  through  me,  I'd  look  nice,  wouldn't  I, 
with  a  common  mouse  inside  me?  But  the  fact  is 
that  I  haven't  any  stomach  or  other  machinery  that 
would  permit  me  to  eat  things.  The  careless  magi- 
cian who  made  me  didn't  think  I'd  need  to  eat,  I 
suppose." 

"Don't  you  ever  get  hungry  or  thirsty?"  asked 
Trot. 

"  Never.    I  don't  complain,  you  know,  at  the  way 

100 


Chapter  Nine 


Fm  made,  for  IVe  never  yet  seen  any  living  thing 
as  beautiful  as  I  am.  I  have  the  handsomest  brains 
in  the  world.  They^re  pink,  and  you  can  see  'em 
work." 


"  I  wonder,"  said  Trot  thoughtfully,  as  she  ate  her 
bread  and  jam,  "  if  my  brains  whirl  around  in  the 
same  way  yours  do." 

"  No ;  not  the  same  way,  surely,"  returned  the  Glass 

Cat;  "  for,  in  that  case,  they'd  be  as  good  as  my  brains, 

101 


The  Magic  of  Qz 


except  that  they're  hidden  under  a  thick,  boney  skull." 

"  Brains,"  remarked  Cap'n  Bill,  "  is  of  all  kinds  and 
work  different  ways.  But  Tve  noticed  that  them  as 
thinks  that  their  brains  is  best  is  often  mistook." 

Trot  was  a  little  disturbed  by  sounds  from  the  for- 
est, that  night,  for  many  beasts  seemed  prowling 
among  the  trees,  but  she  was  confident  Cap'n  Bill 
would  protect  her  from  harm.  And  in  fact,  no  beast 
ventured  from  the  forest  to  attack  them. 

At  daybreak  they  were  up  again,  and  after  a  simple 
breakfast  Cap'n  Bill  said  to  the  Glass  Cat: 

"  Up  anchor.  Mate,  and  let's  forge  ahead.  I  don't 
suppose  we're  far  from  that  Magic  Flower,  are  we?" 

"  Not  far,"  answered  the  transparent  one,  as  it  led 
the  way  into  the  forest,  "but  it  may  take  you  some 
time  to  get  to  it." 

Before  long  they  reached  the  bank  of  a  river.  It 
was  not  very  wide,  at  this  place,  but  as  they  followed 
the  banks  in  a  northerly  direction  it  gradually 
broadened. 

Suddenly  the  blue-green  leaves  of  the  trees  changed 
to  a  purple  hue,  and  Trot  noticed  this  and  said: 

"  I  wonder  what  made  the  colors  change  like  that  ?  " 

"  It's  because  we  have  left  the  Munchkin  Country 
and  entered  the  Gillikin  Country,"  explained  the  Glass 

102 


Chapter  Nine 


Cat.    "  Also  it's  a  sign  our  journey  is  nearly  ended." 

The  river  made  a  sudden  turn,  and  after  the  trav- 
elers had  passed  around  the  bend,  they  saw  that  the 
stream  had  now  become  as  broad  as  a  small  lake,  and 
in  the  center  of  the  Lake  they  beheld  a  little  island, 
not  more  than  fifty  feet  in  extent,  either  way.  Some- 
thing glittered  in  the  middle  of  this  tiny  island,  and 
the  Glass  Cat  paused  on  the  bank  and  said: 

"  There  is  the  gold  flower-pot  containing  the  Magic 
Flower,  which  is  very  curious  and  beautiful.  If  you 
can  get  to  the  island,  your  task  is  ended  —  except  to 
carry  the  thing  home  with  you." 

Cap'n  Bill  looked  at  the  broad  expanse  of  water 
and  began  to  whistle  a  low,  quavering  tune.  Trot 
knew  that  the  whistle  meant  that  Cap'n  Bill  was 
thinking,  and  the  old  sailor  didn't  look  at  the  island 
as  much  as  he  looked  at  the  trees  upon  the  bank  where 
they  stood.  Presently  he  took  from  the  big  pocket 
of  his  coat  an  axe-blade,  wound  in  an  old  cloth  to 
keep  the  sharp  edge  from  cutting  his  clothing.  Then, 
with  a  large  pocket  knife,  he  cut  a  small  limb  from 
a  tree  and  whittled  it  into  a  handle  for  his  axe. 

"  Sit  down.  Trot,"  he  advised  the  girl,  as  he  worked. 
"  I've  got  quite  a  job  ahead  of  me  now,  for  I've  got 
to  build  us  a  raft." 

103 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  What  do  we  need  a  raft  for,  Cap'n?  " 
"Why,  to  take  us  to  the  island.     We  can't  walk 
under  water,  in  the  river  bed,  as  the  Glass  Cat  did, 
so  we  must  float  atop  the  water." 
"  Can  you  make  a  raft,  Cap'n  Bill?  " 
"  O'  course.  Trot,  if  you  give  me  time." 
The  little  girl  sat  down  on  a  log  and  gazed  at  the 
Island  of  the  Magic  Flower.    Nothing  else  seemed  to 
grow  on  the  tiny  isle.    There  was  no  tree,  no  shrub,  no 
grass,  even,  as  far  as  she  could  make  out  from  that 
distance.    But  the  gold  pot  glittered  in  the  rays  of 
the  sun,  and  Trot  could  catch  glimpses  of  glowing 
colors  above  it,  as  the  Magic  Flower  changed  from 
one  sort  to  another. 

"  When  I  was  here  before,"  remarked  the  Glass 
Cat,  lazily  reclining  at  the  girPs  feet,  "  I  saw  two 
Kalidahs  on  this  very  bank,  where  they  had  come 
to  drink." 

"What  are  Kalidahs?"  asked  the  girl. 
"  The  most  powerful  and  ferocious  beasts  in  all  Oz. 
This  forest  is  their  especial  home,  and  so  there  are 
few  other  beasts  to  be  found  except  monkeys.  The 
monkeys  are  spry  enough  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of 
the  fierce  Kalidahs,  which  attack  all  other  animals 
and  often  fight  among  themselves. 

104 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"Did  they  try  to  fight  you  when  you  saw  ^emV^ 
asked  Trot,  getting  very  much  excited. 

"Yes.  They  sprang  upon  me  in  an  instant;  but  I 
lay  flat  on  the  ground,  so  I  wouldn't  get  my  legs 
broken  by  the  great  weight  of  the  beasts,  and  when 
they  tried  to  bite  me  I  laughed  at  them  and  jeered 
them  until  they  were  frantic  with  rage,  for  they  nearly 
broke  their  teeth  on  my  hard  glass.  So,  after  a  time, 
they  discovered  they  could  not  hurt  me,  and  went 
away.    It  was  great  fun." 

"  I  hope  they  don't  come  here  a  gain  to  drink, —  not 
while  we're  here,  anyhow,"  returned  the  girl,  "  for 
I'm  not  made  of  glass,  nor  is  Cap'n  Bill,  and  if  those 
bad  beasts  bit  us,  we'd  get  hurt." 

Cap'n  Bill  was  cutting  from  the  trees  some  long 
stakes,  making  them  sharp  at  one  end  and  leaving  a 
crotch  at  the  other  end.  These  were  to  bind  the  logs 
of  his  raft  together.  He  had  fashioned  several  and 
was  just  finishing  another  when  the  Glass  Cat  cried: 
"  Look  out!    There's  a  Kalidah  coming  toward  us." 

Trot  jumped  up,  greatly  frightened,  and  looked  at 
the  terrible  animal  as  if  fascinated  by  its  fierce  eyes, 
for  the  Kalidah  was  looking  at  her,  too,  and  its  look 
wasn't  at  all  friendly.  But  Cap'n  Bill  called  to  her: 
"  Wade  into  the  river,  Trot,  up  to  your  knees  —  an' 

106 


The  Magic  of  Qz 


stay  there !  "  and  she  obeyed  him  at  once.  The  sailor- 
man  hobbled  forward,  the  stake  in  one  hand  and  his 
axe  in  the  other,  and  got  between  the  girl  and  the 
beast,  which  sprang  upon  him  with  a  growl  of  defiance. 

Cap'n  Bill  moved  pretty  slowly,  sometimes,  but  now 
he  was  quick  as  could  be.  As  the  Kalidah  sprang 
tow^ard  him  he  stuck  out  his  wooden  leg  and  the  point 
of  it  struck  the  beast  between  its  eyes  and  sent  it 
rolling  upon  the  ground.  Before  it  could  get  upon 
its  feet  again  the  sailor  pushed  the  sharp  stake  right 
through  its  body  and  then  with  the  flat  side  of  the 
axe  he  hammered  the  stake  as  far  into  the  ground  as 
it  would  go.  By  this  means  he  captured  the  great 
beast  and  made  it  harmless,  for  try  as  it  would,  it 
could  not  get  away  from  the  stake  that  held  it. 

Cap'n  Bill  knew  he  could  not  kill  the  Kalidah,  for 
no  living  thing  in  Oz  can  be  killed,  so  he  stood  back 
and  watched  the  beast  wriggle  and  growl  and  paw 
the  earth  with  its  sharp  claws,  and  then,  satisfied  it 
could  not  escape,  he  told  Trot  to  come  out  of  the  water 
again  and  dry  her  wet  shoes  and  stockings  in  the 
sun. 

"Are  you  sure  he  can't  get  away?"  she  asked. 

"Td  bet  a  cookie  on  it,"  said  Cap'n  Bill,  so  Trot 
came  ashore  and  took  off  her  shoes  and  stockings  and 

108 


Chapter  Nine 


laid  them  on  the  log  to  dry,  while  the  sailor-man 
resumed  his  work  on  the  raft. 

The  Kalidah,  realizing  after  many  struggles  that 
it  could  not  escape,  now  became  quiet,  but  it  said  in 
a  harsh,  snarling  voice: 

"I  suppose  you  think  you're  clever,  to  pin  me  to 
the  ground  in  this  manner.  But  when  my  friends, 
the  other  Kalidahs,  come  here,  they'll  tear  you  to 
pieces  for  treating  me  this  way." 

"  P'raps,"  remarked  Cap'n  Bill,  coolly,  as  he  chopped 
at  the  logs,  "an'  p'raps  not.  When  are  your  folks 
comin'  here?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  admitted  the  Kalidah.  "  But  when 
they  do  come,  you  can't  escape  them." 

"If  they  hold  off  long  enough,  I'll  have  my  raft 
ready,"  said  Cap'n  Bill. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  a  raft?"  inquired 
the  beast. 

"We're  goin'  over  to  that  island,  to  get  the  Magic 
Flower." 

The  huge  beast  looked  at  him  in  surprise  a  moment, 
and  then  it  began  to  laugh.  The  laugh  was  a  good 
deal  like  a  roar,  and  it  had  a  cruel  and  derisive  sound, 
but  it  was  a  laugh  nevertheless. 

"  Good! "  said  the  Kalidah.     "  Good!    Very  good! 

109 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


I'm  glad  you're  going  to  get  the  Magic  Flower.  But 
what  will  you  do  with  it?" 

"We're  going  to  take  it  to  Ozma,  as  a  present  on 
her  birthday." 

The  Kalidah  laughed  again;  then  it  became  sober. 
"  If  you  get  to  the  land  on  your  raft  before  my  people 
can  catch  you,"  it  said,  "you  will  be  safe  from  us. 
We  can  swim  like  ducks,  so  the  girl  couldn't  have 
escaped  me  by  getting  into  the  water;  but  Kalidahs 
don't  go  to  that  island  over  there." 

"  Why  not?  "  asked  Trot. 

The  beast  was  silent. 

"  Tell  us  the  reason,"  urged  Cap'n  Bill. 

"  Well,  it's  the  Isle  of  the  Magic  Flower,"  answered 
the  Kalidah,  "  and  we  don't  care  much  for  magic.  If 
you  hadn't  had  a  magic  leg,  instead  of  a  meat  one,  you 
couldn't  have  knocked  me  over  so  easily  and  stuck 
this  wooden  pin  through  me." 

"I've  been  to  the  Magic  Isle,"  said  the  Glass  Cat, 
"  and  I've  watched  the  Magic  Flower  bloom,  and  I'm 
sure  it's  too  pretty  to  be  left  in  that  lonely  place  where 
only  beasts  prowl  around  it  and  no  one  else  sees  it. 
So  we're  going  to  take  it  away  to  the  Emerald  City." 

"I  don't  care,"  the  beast  replied  in  a  surly  tone. 
"We  Kalidahs  would  be  just  as  contented  if  there 

110 


Chapter  Nine 


wasn't  a  flower  in  our  forest.  What  good  are  the 
things  anyhow  ?  " 

"Don't  you  like  pretty  things?"  asked  Trot. 

"No." 

"You  ought  to  admire  my  pink  brains,  anyhow,'* 
declared  the  Glass  Cat.  "They're  beautiful  and  you 
can  see  'em  work." 

The  beast  only  growled  in  reply,  and  Cap'n  Bill, 
having  now  cut  all  his  logs  to  a  proper  size,  began 
to  roll  them  to  the  water's  edge  and  fasten  them 
together. 


Ill 


Stuck  Fast 


v> 


CHAPTER  10 

The  day  was  nearly  gone 
when,  at  last,  the  raft  was 
ready. 

"It  ain't  so  very  big,  said 
the  old  sailor,  "  but  I  don't 
weigh  much,  an'  you.  Trot, 
don't  weigh  half  as  much  as  I 
do,  an'  the  glass  pussy  don't 
count." 

"But  it's  safe,  isn't  it?" 
inquired  the  girl. 

"Yes;  it's  good  enough  to 

carry    us    to    the    island    an' 
112 


Chapter  Ten 


back  again,  an'  that's  about  all  we  can  expect  of  it." 

Saying  this,  Cap'n  Bill  pushed  the  raft  into  the 
water,  and  when  it  was  afloat,  stepped  upon  it  and 
held  out  his  hand  to  Trot,  who  quickly  followed  him. 
The  Glass  Cat  boarded  the  raft  last  of  all. 

The  sailor  had  cut  a  long  pole,  and  had  also  whittled 
a  flat  paddle,  and  with  these  he  easily  propelled  the 
raft  across  the  river.  As  they  approached  the  island, 
the  Wonderful  Flower  became  more  plainly  visible, 
and  they  quickly  decided  that  the  Glass  Cat  had  not 
praised  it  too  highly.  The  colors  of  the  flowers  that 
bloomed  in  quick  succession  were  strikingly  bright 
and  beautiful,  and  the  shapes  of  the  blossoms  were 
varied  and  curious.  Indeed,  they  did  not  resemble 
ordinarv  flowers  at  all. 

So  intently  did  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  gaze  upon  the 
Golden  Flower  pot  that  held  the  Magic  Flower  that 
they  scarcely  noticed  the  island  itself  until  the  raft 
beached  upon  its  sands.  But  then  the  girl  exclaimed: 
"  How  funny  it  is,  Cap'n  Bill,  that  nothing  else  grows 
here  excep'  the  Magic  Flower." 

Then  the  sailor  glanced  at  the  island  and  saw  that 
it  was  all  bare  ground,  without  a  weed,  a  stone  or  a 
blade  of  grass.  Trot,  eager  to  examine  the  Flower 
closer,  sprang  from  the  raft  and  ran  up  the  bank  until 

113 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


she  reached  the  Golden  Flowerpot.  Then  she  stood 
beside  it  motionless  and  filled  with  wonder.  Cap'n 
Bill  joined  her,  coming  more  leisurely,  and  he,  too, 
stood  in  silent  admiration  for  a  time. 

"  Ozma  will  like  this,"  remarked  the  Glass  Cat, 
sitting  down  to  watch  the  shifting  hues  of  the  flowers. 
"  Tm  sure  she  won't  have  as  fine  a  birthday  present 
from  anyone  else." 

"Do  you  'spose  it's  very  heavy,  Cap'n?  And  can 
we  get  it  home  without  breaking  it?"  asked  Trot 
anxiously. 

"  Well,  I've  lifted  many  bigger  things  than  that," 
he  replied;  "but  let's  see  what  it  weighs." 

He  tried  to  take  a  step  forward,  but  could  not 
lift  his  meat  foot  from  the  ground.  His  wooden 
leg  seemed  free  enough,  but  the  other  would  not 
budge. 

"I  seem  stuck.  Trot,"  he  said,  with  a  perplexed 
look  at  his  foot.  "  It  ain't  mud,  an'  it  ain't  glue,  but 
somethin's  holdin'  me  down." 

The  girl  attempted  to  lift  her  own  feet,  to  go  nearer 
to  her  friend,  but  the  ground  held  them  as  fast  as  it 
held  Cap'n  Bill's  foot.  She  tried  to  slide  them,  or  to 
twist  them  around,  but  it  was  no  use;  she  could  not 
move  either  foot  a  hair's  breadth. 

114 


Chapter  Ten 


"  This  is  funny  I  "  she  exclaimed.  "  What  do  you 
'spose  has  happened  to  us,  Cap^n  Bill?  " 

"  I'm  tryin'  to  make  out,"  he  answered.  "  Take  off 
your  shoes,  Trot.  P'raps  it's  the  leather  soles  that's 
stuck  to  the  ground." 


She  leaned  down  and  unlaced  her  shoes,  but  found 

she  could  not  pull  her  feet  out  of  them.    The  Glass 

Cat,  which  was  walking  around  as  naturally  as  ever, 

now  said: 

115 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  Your  foot  has  got  roots  to  it,  Cap'n,  and  I  can  see 
the  roots  going  into  the  ground,  where  they  spread 
out  in  all  directions.  It's  the  same  way  with  Trot. 
That's  why  you  can't  move.    The  roots  hold  you  fast." 

Cap'n  Bill  was  rather  fat  and  couldn't  see  his  own 
feet  very  well,  but  he  squatted  down  and  examined 
Trot's  feet  and  decided  that  the  Glass  Cat  was  right. 

"  This  is  hard  luck,"  he  declared,  in  a  voice  that 
showed  he  was  uneasy  at  the  discovery.  "  We're 
pris'ners,  Trot,  on  this  funny  island,  an'  I'd  like  to 
know  how  we're  ever  goin'  to  get  loose,  so's  we  can 
get  home  again." 

"  Now  I  know  why  the  Kalidah  laughed  at  us,"  said 
the  girl,  "  and  why  he  said  none  of  the  beasts  ever  came 
to  this  island.  The  horrid  creature  knew  we'd  be 
caught,  and  w^ouldn't  warn  us." 

In  the  meantime,  the  Kalidah,  although  pinned  fast 
to  the  earth  by  Cap'n  Bill's  stake,  was  facing  the 
island,  and  now  the  ugly  expression  which  passed 
over  its  face  when  it  defied  and  sneered  at  Cap'n  Bill 
and  Trot,  had  changed  to  one  of  amusement  and  cur- 
iosity. When  it  saw  the  adventurers  had  actually 
reached  the  island  and  were  standing  beside  the  Magic 
Flower,  it  heaved  a  breath  of  satisfaction  —  a  long, 

deep  breath  that  swelled  the   deep   chest  until  the 

116 


Chapter  Ten 


beast  could  feel  the  stake  that  held  him  move  a  little, 
as  if  withdrawing  itself  from  the  ground. 

"  Ah  ha! "  murmured  the  Kalidah,  "  a  little  more 
of  this  will  set  me  free  and  allow  me  to  escape!  " 

So  he  began  breathing  as  hard  as  he  could,  puffing 
out  his  chest  as  much  as  possible  with  each  indrawing 
breath,  and  by  doing  this  he  managed  to  raise  the 
stake  with  each  powerful  breath,  until  at  last  the 
Kalidah  —  using  the  muscles  of  his  four  legs  as  well 
as  his  deep  breaths  —  found  itself  free  of  the  sandy 
soil.  The  stake  was  sticking  right  through  him,  how- 
ever, so  he  found  a  rock  deeply  set  in  the  bank  and 
pressed  the  sharp  point  of  the  stake  upon  the  surface 
of  this  rock  until  he  had  driven  it  clear  through  his 
body.  Then,  by  getting  the  stake  tangled  among  some 
thorny  bushes,  and  wiggling  his  body,  he  managed 
to  draw  it  out  altogether. 

"  There!  "  he  exclaimed,  "  except  for  those  two  holes 
in  me,  Fm  as  good  as  ever;  but  I  must  admit  that 
that  old  wooden-legged  fellow  saved  both  himself  and 
the  girl  by  making  me  a  prisoner." 

Now  the  Kalidahs,  although  the  most  disagreeable 
creatures  in  the  Land  of  Oz,  were  nevertheless  magi- 
cal inhabitants  of  a  magical  Fairyland,  and  in  their 
natures  a  certain  amount  of  good  was  mingled  with 

117 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


the  evil.  This  one  was  not  very  revengeful,  and  now 
that  his  late  foes  were  in  danger  of  perishing,  his 
anger  against  them  faded  away. 

"  Our  own  Kalidah  King,"  he  reflected,  "  has  cer- 
tain magical  powers  of  his  own.  Perhaps  he  knows 
how  to  fill  up  these  two  holes  in  my  body." 

So  without  paying  any  more  attention  to  Trot  and 
Cap'n  Bill  than  they  were  paying  to  him,  he  entered 
the  forest  and  trotted  along  a  secret  path  that  led 
to  the  hidden  lair  of  all  the  Kalidahs. 

While  the  Kalidah  was  making  good  its  escape 
Cap'n  Bill  took  his  pipe  from  his  pocket  and  filled  it 
with  tobacco  and  lighted  it.  Then,  as  he  puffed  out 
the  smoke,  he  tried  to  think  what  could  be  done. 

"  The  Glass  Cat  seems  all  right,"  he  said,  "  an'  my 
wooden  leg  didn't  take  roots  and  grow,  either.  So 
it's  only  flesh  that  gets  caught." 

"  It's  magic  that  does  it,  Cap'n! " 

"I  know.  Trot,  and  that's  what  sticks  me.  We're 
livin'  in  a  magic  country,  but  neither  of  us  knows 
any  magic  an'  so  we  can't  help  ourselves." 

"  Couldn't  the  Wizard  of  Oz  help  us  —  or  Glinda 
the  Good?"  asked  the  little  girl. 

"  Ah,  now  we're  beginnin'  to  reason,"  he  answered. 
"  I'd  probably  thought  o'  that,  myself,  in  a  minute 

118 


Chapter  Ten 


more.  By  good  luck  the  Glass  Cat  is  free,  an'  so  it 
can  run  back  to  the  Emerald  City  an'  tell  the  Wizard 
about  our  fix,  an'  ask  him  to  come  an'  help  us  get 
loose." 

"  Will  you  go  ?  "  Trot  asked  the  cat,  speaking  very 
earnestly. 

"  I'm  no  messenger,  to  be  sent  here  and  there," 
asserted  the  curious  animal  in  a  sulky  tone  of  voice. 

"Well,"  said  Cap'n  Bill,  "you've  got  to  go  home, 
anyhow,  'cause  you  don't  want  to  stay  here,  I  take  it. 
And,  when  you  get  home,  it  wouldn't  worry  you  much 
to  tell  the  Wizard  what's  happened  to  us." 

"  That's  true,"  said  the  cat,  sitting  on  its  haunches 
and  lazily  washing  its  face  with  one  glass  paw.  "  I 
don't  mind  telling  the  Wizard  —  when  I  get  home." 

"Won't  you  go  now?"  pleaded  Trot.  "We  don't 
want  to  stay  here  any  longer  than  we  can  help,  and 
everybody  in  Oz  will  be  interested  in  you,  and  call 
you  a  hero,  and  say  nice  things  about  you  because 
you  helped  your  friends  out  of  trouble." 

That  was  the  best  way  to  manage  the  Glass  Cat, 
which  was  so  vain  that  it  loved  to  be  praised. 

"I'm  going  home  right  away,"  said  the  creature, 

"  and  I'll  tell  the  Wizard  to  come  and  help  you." 

Saying  this,  it  walked  down  to  the  water  and  dis- 

119 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


appeared  under  the  surface.  Not  being  able  to  man- 
age the  raft  alone,  the  Glass  Cat  walked  on  the  bottom 
of  the  river  as  it  had  done  when  it  visited  the  island 
before,  and  soon  they  saw  it  appear  on  the  farther 
bank  and  trot  into  the  forest,  where  it  was  quickly- 
lost  to  sight  among  the  trees. 

Then  Trot  heaved  a  deep  sigh. 

"  Cap'n,"  said  she,  "  we're  in  a  bad  fix.  There's 
nothing  here  to  eat,  and  we  can't  even  lie  down  to  sleep. 
Unless  the  Glass  Cat  hurries,  and  the  Wizard  hurries, 
I  don't  know  what's  going  to  become  of  us!  " 


120 


The  Beasts  of  the  Forest  of  Gugu 


UvJ 


CHAPTER  11 


That  was  a  wonderful  gather- 
ing of  wild  animals  in  the 
Forest  of  Gugu  next  sunrise. 
Ran  go,  the  Gray  Ape,  had 
even  called  his  monkey  senti- 
nels awav  from  the  forest 
edge,  and  every  beast,  little 
and  big,  was  in  the  great 
clearing  where  meetings  were 
held  on  occasions  of  great 
importance. 

In  the  center  of  the  clearing 
stood  a  great  shelving  rock, 

121 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


having  a  flat,  inclined  surface,  and  on  this  sat  the 
stately  Leopard  Gugu,  who  was  King  of  the  Forest. 
On  the  ground  beneath  him  squatted  Bru  the  Bear, 
Loo  the  Unicorn,  and  Rango  the  Gray  Ape,  the  King's 
three  Counsellors,  and  in  front  of  them  stood  the  two 
strange  beasts  who  had  called  themselves  Li-Mon- 
Eags,  but  were  really  the  transformations  of  Ruggedo 
the  Nome,  and  Kiki  Aru  the  Hyup. 

Then  came  the  beasts  —  rows  and  rows  and  rows 
of  them!  The  smallest  beasts  were  nearest  the  King's 
rock  throne;  then  there  were  wolves  and  foxes,  lynxes 
and  hyenas,  and  the  like;  behind  them  were  gath- 
ered the  monkey  tribes,  who  were  hard  to  keep  in 
order  because  they  teased  the  other  animals  and  were 
full  of  mischievous  tricks.  Back  of  the  monkeys  were 
the  pumas,  jaguars,  tigers  and  lions,  and  their  kind; 
next  the  bears,  all  sizes  and  colors;  after  them  bisons, 
wild  asses,  zebras  and  unicorns;  farther  on  the  rhi- 
noceri  and  hippopotami,  and  at  the  far  edge  of  the 
forest,  close  to  the  trees  that  shut  in  the  clearing,  was 
a  row  of  thick-skinned  elephants,  still  as  statues  but 
with  eyes  bright  and  intelligent. 

Many  other  kinds  of  beasts,  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion, were  there,  and  some  were  unlike  any  beasts  we 
see  in  the  menageries  and  zoos  in  our  country.    Some 

122 


Qapter  Eleven 


were  from  the  mountains  west  of  the  forest,  and  some 
from  the  plains  at  the  east,  and  some  from  the  river; 
but  all  present  acknowledged  the  leadership  of  Gugu, 
who  for  many  years  had  ruled  them  wisely  and  forced 
all  to  obey  the  laws. 

When  the  beasts  had  taken  their  places  in  the 
clearing  and  the  rising  sun  was  shooting  its  first 
bright  rays  over  the  treetops.  King  Gugu  rose  on  his 
throne.  The  Leopard's  giant  form,  towering  above 
all  the  others,  caused  a  sudden  hush  to  fall  on  the 
assemblage. 

"  Brothers,"  he  said  in  his  deep  voice,  "  a  stranger 
has  come  among  us,  a  beast  of  curious  form  who  is  a 
great  magician  and  is  able  to  change  the  shapes  of 
men  or  beasts  at  his  will.  This  stranger  has  come  to 
us,  with  another  of  his  kind,  from  out  of  the  sky, 
to  warn  us  of  a  danger  which  threatens  us  all,  and  to 
offer  us  a  way  to  escape  from  that  danger.  He  says 
he  is  our  friend,  and  he  has  proved  to  me  and  to  my 
counsellors  his  magic  powers.  Will  you  listen  to  what 
he  has  to  say  to  you  —  to  the  message  he  has  brought 
from  the  sky?" 

"Let  him  speak!"  came  in  a  great  roar  from  the 
great  company  of  assembled  beasts. 

So  Euggedo  the  Nome  sprang  upon  the  flat  rock 

123 


^'■Sl  -ji 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


beside  ^Gugu  the  King,  and  another  roar,  gentle  this 
time,  showed  how  astonished  the  beasts  were  at  the 
sight  of  his  curious  form.  His  lion's  face  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  mane  of  pure  white  hair;  his  eagle's 
wings  w^ere  attached  to  the  shoulders  of  his  monkey 
body  and  were  so  long  that  they  nearly  touched  the 
ground;  he  had  powerful  arms  and  legs  in  addition 
to  the  wings,  and  at  the  end  of  his  long,  strong  tail 
was  a  golden  ball.  Never  had  any  beast  beheld  such 
a  curious  creature  before,  and  so  the  very  sight  of 
the  stranger,  who  was  said  to  be  a  great  magician, 
filled  all  present  with  awe  and  wonder. 

Kiki  stayed  down  below  and,  half  hidden  by  the 
shelf  of  rock,  was  scarcely  noticed.  The  boy  realized 
that  the  old  Nome  was  helpless  without  his  magic 
power,  but  he  also  realized  that  Ruggedo  was  the 
best  talker.  So  he  was  willing  the  Nome  should  take 
the  lead. 

"  Beasts  of  the  Forest  of  Gugu,"  began  Ruggedo 

the  Nome,  "  my  comrade  and  I  are  your  friends.    We 

are  magicians,  and  from  our  home  in  the  sky  we  can 

look  down  into  the  Land  of  Oz  and  see  everything 

that  is  going  on.    Also  we  can  hear  what  the  people 

below  us  are  saying.     That  is  how  we  heard  Ozma, 

who  rules  the  Land  of  Oz,  say  to  her  people:    *The 

126 


Chapter  Eleven 


beasts  in  the  Forest  of  Gugu  are  lazy  and  are  of  no 
use  to  us.  Let  us  go  to  their  forest  and  make  them 
all  our  prisoners.  Let  us  tie  them  with  ropes,  and 
beat  them  with  sticks,  until  they  work  for  us  and 
become  our  willing  slaves.'  And  when  the  people 
heard  Ozma  of  Oz  say  this,  they  were  glad  and  raised 
a  great  shout  and  said:  *We  will  do  it!  We  will 
make  the  beasts  of  the  Forest  of  Gugu  our  slaves! ' " 

The  wicked  old  Nome  could  say  no  more,  just  then, 
for  such  a  fierce  roar  of  anger  rose  from  the  multi- 
tude of  beasts  that  his  voice  was  drowned  by  the 
clamor.  Finally  the  roar  died  away,  like  distant 
thunder,  and  Euggedo  the  Nome  went  on  with  his 
speech. 

"Having  heard  the  Oz  people  plot  against  your 
liberty,  we  watched  to  see  what  they  would  do,  and 
saw  them  all  begin  making  ropes  —  ropes  long  and 
short  —  with  which  to  snare  our  friends  the  beasts. 
You  are  angry,  but  we  also  were  angry,  for  when  the 
Oz  people  became  the  enemies  of  the  beasts  they  also 
became  our  enemies;  for  we,  too,  are  beasts,  although 
we  live  in  the  sky.  And  my  comrade  and  I  said:  *  We 
will  save  our  friends  and  have  revenge  on  the  Oz 
people,'  and  so  we  came  here  to  tell  you  of  your 
danger  and  of  our  plan  to  save  you.'' 

127 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"We  can  save  ourselves,"  cried  an  old  elephant. 
"  We  can  fight." 

"The  Oz  people  are  fairies,  and  you  can't  fight 
against  magic  unless  you  also  have  magic,"  answered 
the  Nome. 

"  Tell  us  your  plan! "  shouted  the  huge  Tiger,  and 
the  other  beasts  echoed  his  words,  crying:  "  Tell  us 
your  plan." 

"My  plan  is  simple,"  replied  Euggedo.  "By  our 
magic  we  will  transform  all  you  animals  into  men 
and  women  —  like  the  Oz  people  —  and  we  will  trans- 
form all  the  Oz  people  into  beasts.  You  can  then  live 
in  the  fine  houses  of  the  Land  of  Oz,  and  eat  the  fine 
food  of  the  Oz  people,  and  wear  their  fine  clothes, 
and  sing  and  dance  and  be  happy.  And  the  Oz  people, 
having  become  beasts,  will  have  to  live  here  in  the 
forest  and  hunt  and  fight  for  food,  and  often  go  hun- 
gry, as  you  now  do,  and  have  no  place  to  sleep  but 
a  bed  of  leaves  or  a  hole  in  the  ground.  Having  become 
men  and  women,  you  beasts  will  have  all  the  com- 
forts you  desire,  and  having  become  beasts,  the  Oz 
people  will  be  very  miserable.  That  is  our  plan,  and 
if  you  agree  to  it,  we  will  all  march  at  once  into  the 
Land  of  Oz  and  quickly  conquer  our  enemies." 

When  the  stranger  ceased  speaking,  a  great  silence 

128 


Chapter  Heven 


fell  on  the  assemblage,  for  the  beasts  were  thinking 
of  what  he  had  said.    Finally  one  of  the  walrus  asked: 
"  Can  you  really  transform  beasts  into  men,  and 
men  into  beasts?" 


6A\ 


"He  can  —  he  can!"  cried  Loo  the  Unicorn,  pranc- 
ing up  and  down  in  an  excited  manner.  "He  trans- 
formed me,  only  last  evening,  and  he  can  transform 
us  all." 

129 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


Gugu  the  King  now  stepped  forward. 

"  You  have  heard  the  stranger  speak,"  said  he,  and 
now  you  must  answer  him.  It  is  for  you  to  decide. 
Shall  we  agree  to  this  plan,  or  not?" 

"  Yes! "  shouted  some  of  the  animals. 

"No!"  shouted  others. 

And  some  were  yet  silent. 

Gugu  looked  around  the  great  circle. 

"  Take  more  time  to  think,"  he  suggested.  "  Your 
answer  is  very  important.  Up  to  this  time  we  have 
had  no  trouble  with  the  Oz  people,  but  we  are  proud 
and  free,  and  never  will  become  slaves.  Think  care- 
fully, and  when  you  are  ready  to  answer,  I  will  hear 
you." 


130 


Kiki  Uses  His  Magic 


v^ 


V-,'? 


^^ 


U^^ 


CHAPTER  12 

Then  arose  a  great  confusion 

of  sounds  as  all  the  animals 

began  talking  to  their  fellows. 

The   monkeys   chattered  and 

the    bears    growled    and   the 

voices  of  the  jaguars  and  lions 

rumbled,   and  the   wolves 

yelped  and  the  elephants  had 

to   trumpet   loudly   to   make 

their  voices  heard.     Such  a 

hubbub  had  never  been  known 

in  the  forest  before,  and  each 

beast  argued  with  his  neigh- 
131 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


bor  until  it   seemed  the  noise   would  never  cease. 

Euggedo  the  Nome  waved  his  arms  and  fluttered 
his  wings  to  try  to  make  them  listen  to  him  again, 
but  the  beasts  paid  no  attention.  Some  wanted  to 
fight  the  Oz  people,  some  wanted  to  be  transformed, 
and  some  wanted  to  do  nothing  at  all. 

The  growling  and  confusion  had  grown  greater  than 
ever  when  in  a  flash  silence  fell  on  all  the  beasts  pres- 
ent, the  arguments  were  hushed,  and  all  gazed  in 
astonishment  at  a  strange  sight. 

For  into  the  circle  strode  a  great  Lion  —  bigger  and 
more  powerful  than  any  other  lion  there  —  and  on 
his  back  rode  a  little  girl  who  smiled  fearlessly  at  the 
multitude  of  beasts.  And  behind  the  lion  and  the 
little  girl  came  another  beast  —  a  monstrous  Tiger, 
who  bore  upon  his  back  a  funny  little  man  carrying 
a  black  bag.  Right  past  the  rows  of  wondering  beasts 
the  strange  animals  walked,  advancing  until  they 
stood  just  before  the  rock  throne  of  Gugu. 

Then  the  little  girl  and  the  funny  little  man  dis- 
mounted, and  the  great  Lion  demanded  in  a  loud  voice: 

"  Who  is  King  in  this  forest?  " 

"I  am!"  answered  Gugu,  looking  steadily  at  the 

other.    "  I  am  Gugu  the  Leopard,  and  I  am  King  of 

this  forest." 

132 


Chapter  Twelve 


"  Then  I  greet  Your  Majesty  with  great  respect," 
said  the  Lion.  "  Perhaps  you  have  heard  of  me,  Gugu. 
I  am  called  the  *  Cowardly  Lion,'  and  I  am  King  of 
all  Beasts,  the  world  over." 

Gugu's  eyes  flashed  angrily. 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "I  have  heard  of  you.  You  have 
long  claimed  to  be  King  of  Beasts,  but  no  beast  who 
is  a  coward  can  be  King  over  me." 

"He  isn't  a  coward,  Your  Majesty,"  asserted  the 
little  girl,  "  he's  just  cowardly,  that's  all." 

Gugu  looked  at  her.  All  the  other  beasts  were  look- 
ing at  her,  too. 

"Who  are  you?"  asked  the  King. 

"Me?    Oh,  I'm  just  Dorothy,"  she  answered. 

"How  dare  you  come  here?"  demanded  the  King. 

"  Why,  I'm  not  afraid  to  go  anywhere,  if  the  Cow- 
ardly Lion  is  with  me,"  she  said.  "  I  know  him  pretty 
well,  and  so  I  can  trust  him.  He's  always  afraid, 
when  we  get  into  trouble,  and  that's  why  he's  cow- 
ardly; but  he's  a  terrible  fighter,  and  that's  why  he 
isn't  a  coward.  He  doesn't  like  to  fight,  you  know, 
but  when  he  has  to,  there  isn't  any  beast  living  that 
can  conquer  him." 

Gugu  the  King  looked  at  the  big,  powerful  form  of 

the  Cowardly  Lion,  and  knew  she  spoke  the  truth. 

133 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


Also  the  other  Lions  of  the  forest  now  came  forward 
and  bowed  low  before  the  strange  Lion. 

"  We  welcome  Your  Majesty,"  said  one.  "  We  have 
known  you  many  years  ago,  before  you  went  to  live 
at  the  Emerald  City,  and  we  have  seen  you  fight  the 
terrible  Kalidahs  and  conquer  them,  so  we  know  you 
are  the  King  of  all  Beasts." 

"  It  is  true,"  replied  the  Cowardly  Lion;  "  but  I  did 
not  come  here  to  rule  the  beasts  of  this  forest.  Gugu 
is  King  here,  and  I  believe  he  is  a  good  King  and  just 
and  wise.  I  come,  with  my  friends,  to  be  the  guest 
of  Gugu,  and  I  hope  we  are  welcome." 

That  pleased  the  great  Leopard,  who  said  very 
quickly: 

"  Yes;  you,  at  least,  are  welcome  to  my  forest.  But 
who  are  these  strangers  with  you." 

"  Dorothy  has  introduced  herself,"  replied  the  Lion, 
"  and  you  are  sure  to  like  her  when  you  know  her 
better.  This  man  is  the  Wizard  of  Oz,  a  friend  of 
mine  who  can  do  wonderful  tricks  of  magic.  And 
here  is  my  true  and  tried  friend,  the  Hungry  Tiger, 
who  lives  with  me  in  the  Emerald  City." 

"Is  he  always  hungry?"  asked  Loo  the  Unicorn. 

"  I  am,"  replied  the  Tiger,  answering  the  question 
himself.    "  I  am  always  hungry  for  fat  babies." 

136 


Chapter  Twelve 


"Can't  you  find  any  fat  babies  in  Oz  to  eat?" 
inquired  Loo,  the  Unicom. 

"  There  are  plenty  of  them,  of  course,"  said  the 
Tiger,  "  but  unfortunately  I  have  such  a  tender  con- 
science that  it  won't  allow  me  to  eat  babies.  So  I'm 
always  hungry  for  'em  and  never  can  eat  'em,  because 
my  conscience  won't  let  me." 

Now  of  all  the  surprised  beasts  in  that  clearing, 
not  one  was  so  much  surprised  at  the  sudden  appear- 
ance of  these  four  strangers  as  Ruggedo  the  Nome. 
He  was  frightened,  too,  for  he  recognized  them  as  his 
most  powerful  enemies;  but  he  also  realized  that  they 
could  not  know  he  was  the  former  King  of  the  Nomes, 
because  of  the  beast's  form  he  wore,  which  disguised 
him  so  effectually.  So  he  took  courage  and  resolved 
that  the  Wizard  and  Dorothy  should  not  defeat  his 
plans. 

It  was  hard  to  tell,  just  yet,  what  the  vast  assem- 
blage of  beasts  thought  of  the  new  arrivals.  Some 
glared  angrily  at  them,  but  more  of  them  seemed  to 
be  curious  and  wondering.  All  were  interested,  how- 
ever, and  they  kept  very  quiet  and  listened  carefully 
to  all  that  was  said. 

Kiki  Aru,  who  had  remained  unnoticed  in  the 
shadow  of  the  rock,  was  at  first  more  alarmed  by 

137 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


the  coming  of  the  strangers  than  even  Ruggedo  was, 
and  the  boy  told  himself  that  unless  he  acted  quickly 
and  without  waiting  to  ask  the  advice  of  the  old  Nome, 
their  conspiracy  was  likely  to  be  discovered  and  all 
their  plans  to  conquer  and  rule  Oz  be  defeated.  Kiki 
didn't  like  the  way  Ruggedo  acted  either,  for  the 
former  King  of  the  Nomes  wanted  to  do  everything 
his  own  way,  and  made  the  boy,  who  alone  possessed 
the  power  of  transformations,  obey  his  orders  as  if 
he  were  a  slave. 

Another  thing  that  disturbed  Kiki  Aru  was  the  fact 
that  a  real  Wizard  had  arrived,  who  was  said  to  pos- 
sess many  magical  powers,  and  this  Wizard  carried 
his  tools  in  a  black  bag,  and  was  the  friend  of  the  Oz 
people,  and  so  would  probably  try  to  prevent  war 
between  the  beasts  of  the  forest  and  the  people 
of  Oz. 

All  these  things  passed  through  the  mind  of  the 
Hyup  boy  while  the  Cowardly  Lion  and  Gugu  the 
King  were  talking  together,  and  that  was  why  he 
now  began  to  do  several  strange  things. 

He  had  found  a  place,  near  to  the  point  where  he 
stood,  where  there  was  a  deep  hollow  in  the  rock,  so 
he  put  his  face  into  this  hollow  and  whispered  softly, 
so  he  would  not  be  heard: 

138 


Chapter  Twelve 


"I  want  the  Wizard  of  Oz  to  become  a  fox  — 
Pyrzqxgll" 

The  Wizard,  who  had  stood  smilingly  beside  his 
friends,  suddenly  felt  his  form  change  to  that  of  a 
fox,  and  his  black  bag  fell  to  the  ground.  Kiki  reached 
out  an  arm  and  seized  the  bag,  and  the  Fox  cried  as 
loud  as  it  could: 

"Treason!  There's  a  traitor  here  with  magic 
powers! " 

Everyone  was  startled  at  this  cry,  and  Dorothy, 
seeing  her  old  friend's  plight,  screamed  and  exclaimed: 
"Mercv  me!" 

But  the  next  instant  the  little  girl's  form  had 
changed  to  that  of  a  lamb  with  fleecy  white  wool,  and 
Dorothy  was  too  bewildered  to  do  anything  but  look 
around  her  in  wonder. 

The  Cowardly  Lion's  eyes  now  flashed  fire;  he 
crouched  low  and  lashed  the  ground  with  his  tail  and 
gazed  around  to  discover  who  the  treacherous  magi- 
cian might  be.  But  Kiki,  who  had  kept  his  face  in  the 
hollow  rock,  again  whispered  the  magic  word,  and  the 
great  lion  disappeared  and  in  his  place  stood  a  little 
boy  dressed  in  Munchkin  costume.  The  little  Munch- 
kin  boy  was  as  angry  as  the  lion  had  been,  but  he  was 
small  and  helpless. 

139 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


Ruggedo  the  Nome  saw  what  was  happening  and 
was  afraid  Kiki  would  spoil  all  his  plans,  so  he  leaned 
over  the  rock  and  shouted:    "Stop,  Kiki  —  stop!" 

Kiki  would  not  stop,  however.  Instead,  he  trans- 
formed the  Nome  into  a  goose,  to  Ruggedo's  horror 
and  dismay.  But  the  Hungry  Tiger  had  witnessed 
all  these  transformations,  and  he  was  watching  to  see 
which  of  those  present  was  to  blame  for  them.  When 
Ruggedo  spoke  to  Kiki,  the  Hungry  Tiger  knew  that 
he  was  the  magician,  so  he  made  a  sudden  spring  and 
hurled  his  great  body  full  upon  the  form  of  the 
Li-Mon-Eag  crouching  against  the  rock.  Kiki  didn't 
see  the  Tiger  coming  because  his  face  was  still  in  the 
hollow,  and  the  heavy  body  of  the  tiger  bore  him  to 
the  earth  just  as  he  said  "  P  y  r  z  q  x  g  1 !  "  for  the  fifth 
time. 

So  now  the  tiger  which  was  crushing  him  changed 
to  a  rabbit,  and  relieved  of  its  weight,  Kiki  sprang 
up  and,  spreading  his  eagle's  wings,  flew  into  the 
branches  of  a  tree,  where  no  beast  could  easily  reach 
him.  He  was  not  an  instant  too  quick  in  doing  this, 
for  Gugu  the  King  had  crouched  on  the  rock's  edge 
and  was  about  to  spring  on  the  boy. 

From  his  tree  Kiki  transformed  Gugu  into  a  fat 
Gillikin  woman,  and  laughed  aloud  to  see  how  the 

140 


Chapter  Twelve 


woman  pranced  with  rage,  and  how  astonished  all  the 
beasts  were  at  their  King's  new  shape. 

The  beasts  were  frightened,  too,  fearing  they  would 
share  the  fate  of  Gugu,  so  a  stampede  began  when 
Rango  the  Gray  Ape  sprang  into  the  forest,  and  Bru 


*m 


7      III.       ^    /y. 


the  Bear  and  Loo  the  Unicorn  followed  as  quickly  as 
they  could.  The  elephants  backed  into  the  forest, 
and  all  the  other  animals,  big  and  little,  rushed  after 
them,  scattering  through  the  jungles  until  the  clear- 
ing was  far  behind.    The  monkeys  scrambled  into  the 

141 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


trees  and  swung  themselves  from  limb  to  limb,  to 
avoid  being  trampled  upon  by  the  bigger  beasts,  and 
they  were  so  quick  that  they  distanced  all  the  rest. 
A  panic  of  fear  seemed  to  have  overtaken  the  forest 
people  and  they  got  as  far  away  from  the  terrible 
Magician  as  they  possibly  could. 


But  the  transformed  ones  stayed  in  the  clearing, 
being  so  astonished  and  bewildered  by  their  new 
shapes  that  they  could  only  look  at  one  another  in  a 
dazed  and  helpless  fashion,  although  each  one  was 

142 


Chapter  Twelve 


greatly  annoyed  at  the  trick  that  had  been  played  on 
him. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  the  Munchkin  boy  asked  the  Eab- 
bit;  and  "Who  are  you?"  the  Fox  asked  the  Lamb; 
and  "Who  are  you?"  the  Eabbit  asked  the  fat  Gilli- 
kin  woman. 

"  I'm  Dorothy,"  said  the  woolly  Lamb. 

"  I'm  the  Wizard,"  said  the  Fox. 

"  I'm  the  Cowardly  Lion,"  said  the  Munchkin  Boy. 

"  I'm  the  Hungry  Tiger,"  said  the  Eabbit. 

"  I'm  Gugu  the  King,"  said  the  fat  Woman. 

But  when  they  asked  the  Goose  who  he  was,  Eug- 
gedo  the  Nome  would  not  tell  them. 

"I'm  just  a  Goose,"  he  replied,  "and  what  I  was 
before,  I  cannot  remember." 


143 


The  Loss  of  the  Black  Bag 


CHAPTER  13 

Kiki  Aru,  in  the  form  of  the 
Li-Mon-Eag,  had  scrambled 
into  the  high,  thick  branches 
of  the  tree,  so  no  one  could 
see  him,  and  there  he  opened 
the  Wizard^s  black  bag,  which 
he  had  carried  away  in  his 
flight.  He  was  curious  to  see 
what  the  Wizard's  magic  tools 
looked  like,  and  hoped  he 
could  use  some  of  them  and 
so  secure  more  power;  but 
after  he  had  taken  the  arti- 
144 


Chapter  Thirteen 


cles,  one  by  one,  from  the  bag,  he  had  to  admit  they 
were  puzzles  to  him.  For,  unless  he  understood  their 
uses,  they  were  of  no  value  whatever.  Kiki  Aru,  the 
H3rup  boy,  was  no  wizard  or  magician  at  all,  and  could 
do  nothing  unusual  except  to  use  the  Magic  Word 
he  had  stolen  from  his  father  on  Mount  Munch.  So 
he  hung  the  Wizard's  black  bag  on  a  branch  of  the 
tree  and  then  climbed  down  to  the  lower  limbs  that 
he  might  see  what  the  victims  of  his  transformations 
were  doing. 

They  were  all  on  top  of  the  flat  rock,  talking  together 
in  tones  so  low  that  Kiki  could  not  hear  what  they 
said. 

"  This  is  certainly  a  misfortune,"  remarked  the 
Wizard  in  the  Fox's  form,  "  but  our  transformations 
are  a  sort  of  enchantment  which  is  very  easy  to  break 
—  when  you  know  how  and  have  the  tools  to  do  it 
with.  The  tools  are  in  my  Black  Bag;  but  where  is 
the  Bag?" 

No  one  knew  that,  for  none  had  seen  Kiki  Aru  fly 
away  with  it. 

"Let's  look  and  see  if  we  can  find  it,"  suggested 
Dorothy  the  Lamb. 

So  they  left  the  rock,  and  all  of  them  searched  the 
clearing  high  and  low  without  finding  the  Bag  of 

145 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


Magic  Tools.  The  Goose  searched  as  earnestly  as  the 
others,  for  if  he  could  discover  it,  he  meant  to  hide 
it  where  the  Wizard  could  never  find  it,  because  if 
the  Wizard  changed  him  back  to  his  proper  form, 
along  with  the  others,  he  would  then  be  recognized 
as  Ruggedo  the  Nome,  and  they  would  send  him  out 
of  the  Land  of  Oz  and  so  ruin  all  his  hopes  of 
conquest. 

Ruggedo  was  not  really  sorry,  now  that  he  thought 
about  it,  that  Kiki  had  transformed  all  these  Oz  folks. 
The  forest  beasts,  it  was  true,  had  been  so  frightened 
that  they  would  now  never  consent  to  be  transformed 
into  men,  but  Kiki  could  transform  them  against  their 
will,  and  once  they  were  all  in  human  forms,  it  would 
not  be  impossible  to  induce  them  to  conquer  the  Oz 
people. 

So  all  was  not  lost,  thought  the  old  Nome,  and  the 
best  thing  for  him  to  do  was  to  rejoin  the  Hyup  boy 
who  had  the  secret  of  the  transformations.  So,  having 
made  sure  the  Wizard's  black  bag  was  not  in  the 
clearing,  the  Goose  wandered  away  through  the  trees 
when  the  others  were  not  looking,  and  when  out  of 
their  hearing,  he  began  calling,  "Kiki  Arul  Kiki 
A.ru I    Quack  —  quack !    Kiki  Aru ! " 

The  Boy  and  the  Woman,  the  Fox,  the  Lamb  and 

146 


Chapter  Thirteen 


tha  Rabbit,  not  being  able  to  find  the  bag,  went  back 
to  the  rock,  all  feeling  exceedingly  strange. 

"  Where's  the  Goose  ?  "  asked  the  Wizard. 

"He  must  have  run  away,"  replied  Dorothy.  "I 
wonder  who  he  was  I" 

"I  think,"  said  Gugu  the  King,  who  was  the  fat 
Woman,  "  that  the  Goose  was  the  stranger  who  pro- 
posed that  we  make  war  upon  the  Oz  people.  If  so, 
his  transformation  was  merely  a  trick  to  deceive  us, 
and  he  has  now  gone  to  join  his  comrade,  that  wicked 
Li-Mon-Eag  who  obeyed  all  his  commands." 

"  What  shall  we  do  now?  "  asked  Dorothy.  "  Shall 
we  go  back  to  the  Emerald  City,  as  we  are,  and  then 
visit  Glinda  the  Good  and  ask  her  to  break  the 
enchantments?" 

"I  think  so,"  replied  the  Wizard  Fox.  "And  we 
can  take  Gugu  the  King  with  us,  and  have  Glinda 
restore  him  to  his  natural  shape.  But  I  hate  to  leave 
my  bag  of  Magic  Tools  behind  me,  for  without  it  I 
shall  lose  much  of  my  power  as  a  Wizard.  Also,  if 
I  go  back  to  the  Emerald  City  in  the  shape  of  a  Fox, 
the  Oz  people  will  think  I'm  a  poor  Wizard  and  will 
lose  their  respect  for  me." 

"Let  us  make  still  another  search  for  your  tools," 
suggested  the  Cowardly  Lion,  "  and  then,  if  we  fail 

147 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


to  find  the  Black  Bag  anywhere  in  this  forest,  we  must 
go  back  home  as  we  are." 

"  Why  did  you  come  here,  anyway*?  "  inquired  Gugu. 

"  We  wanted  to  borrow  a  dozen  monkeys,  to  use  on 
Ozma's  birthday,''  explained  the  Wizard.  "  We  were 
going  to  make  them  small,  and  train  them  to  do  tricks, 
and  put  them  inside  Ozma's  birthday  cake." 

"  Well,"  said  the  Forest  King,  "  you  would  have  to 
get  the  consent  of  Rango  the  Gray  Ape,  to  do  that. 
He  commands  all  the  tribes  of  monkeys." 

"  I'm  afraid  it's  too  late,  now,"  said  Dorothy,  regret- 
fully. "  It  was  a  splendid  plan,  but  we've  got  troubles 
of  our  own,  and  I  don't  like  being  a  lamb  at  all." 

"You're  nice  and  fuzzy,"  said  the  Cowardly  Lion. 

"  That's  nothing,"  declared  Dorothy.  "  I've  never 
been  'specially  proud  of  myself,  but  I'd  rather  be  the 
way  I  was  born  than  anything  else  in  the  whole 
world." 

^5  ¥^  <55  ^^  <^  <^  ^^ 

The  Glass  Cat,  although  it  had  some  disagreeable 
ways  and  manners,  nevertheless  realized  that  Trot 
and  Cap'n  Bill  were  its  friends  and  so  was  quite  dis- 
turbed at  the  fix  it  had  gotten  them  into  by  leading 
them  to  the  Isle  of  the  Magic  Flower.    The  ruby  heart 

148 


Chapter  Thirteen 


of  the  Glass  Cat  was  cold  and  hard,  but  still  it  was 
a  heart,  and  to  have  a  heart  of  any  sort  is  to  have  some 
consideration  for  others.  But  the  queer  transparent 
creature  didn't  want  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  to  know  it 
was  sorry  for  them,  and  therefore  it  moved  very  slowly 
until  it  had  crossed  the  river  and  was  out  of  sight 
among  the  trees  of  the  forest.  Then  it  headed  straight 
toward  the  Emerald  City,  and  trotted  so  fast  that  it 
was  like  a  crystal  streak  crossing  the  valleys  and 
plains.  Being  glass,  the  cat  was  tireless,  and  with 
no  reason  to  delay  its  journey,  it  reached  Ozma's 
palace  in  wonderfully  quick  time. 

"Where's  the  Wizard?"  it  asked  the  Pink  Kitten, 
which  was  curled  up  in  the  sunshine  on  the  lowest 
step  of  the  palace  entrance. 

"  Don't  bother  me,"  lazily  answered  the  Pink  Ejt- 
ten,  whose  name  was  Eureka. 

"I  must  find  the  Wizard  at  once!"  said  the  Glass 
Cat. 

"  Then  find  him,"  advised  Eureka,  and  went  to  sleep 
again. 

The  Glass  Cat  darted  up  the  stairway  and  came 
upon  Toto,  Dorothy's  little  black  dog. 

"Where's  the  Wizard?"  asked  the  Cat. 

"  Gone  on  a  journey  with  Dorothy,"  replied  Toto. 

149 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"When  did  they  go,  and  where  have  they  gone?" 
demanded  the  Cat. 

"  They  went  yesterday,  and  I  heard  them  say  they 
would  go  to  the  Great  Forest  in  the  Munchkin 
Country." 

"Dear  me,"  said  the  Glass  Cat;  "that  is  a  long 
journey." 

"  But  they  rode  on  the  Hungry  Tiger  and  the  Cow- 
ardly Lion,"  explained  Toto,  "  and  the  Wizard  carried 
his  Black  Bag  of  Magic  Tools." 

The  Glass  Cat  knew  the  Great  Forest  of  Gugu  well, 
for  it  had  traveled  through  this  forest  many  times  in 
its  journeys  through  the  Land  of  Oz.  And  it  reflected 
that  the  Forest  of  Gugu  was  nearer  to  the  Isle  of  the 
Magic  Flower  than  the  Emerald  City  was,  and  so,  if  it 
could  manage  to  find  the  Wizard,  it  could  lead  him 
across  the  Gillikin  country  to  where  Trot  and  Cap'n 
Bill  were  prisoned.  It  was  a  wild  country  and  little 
traveled,  but  the  Glass  Cat  knew  every  path.  So  very 
little  time  need  be  lost,  after  all. 

Without  stopping  to  ask  any  more  questions  the  Cat 
darted  out  of  the  palace  and  away  from  the  Emerald 
City,  taking  the  most  direct  route  to  the  Forest  of 
Gugu.  Again  the  creature  flashed  through  the  coun- 
try like  a  streak  of  light,  and  it  would  surprise  you  to 

150 


Chapter  Thirteen 


know  how  quickly  it  reached  the  edge  of  the  Great 
Forest. 

There  were  no  monkey  guards  among  the  trees  to 
cry  out  a  warning,  and  this  was  so  unusual  that  it 
astonished  the  Glass  Cat.  Going  farther  into  the 
forest  it  presently  came  upon  a  wolf,  which  at  first 


#  *tV*» 


bounded  away  in  terror.  But  then,  seeing  it  was  only 
a  Glass  Cat,  the  Wolf  stopped,  and  the  Cat  could  see 
it  was  trembling,  as  if  from  a  terrible  fright. 

"  What's  the  matter?  "  asked  the  Cat. 

"  A    dreadful    Magician    has    come    among    us  I " 

151 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


exclaimed  the  Wolf,  "  and  he's  changing  the  forms  of 
all  the  beasts  —  quick  as  a  wink  —  and  making  them 
all  his  slaves." 

The  Glass  Cat  smiled  and  said: 

"Why,  that's  only  the  Wizard  of  Oz.  He  may  be 
having  some  fun  with  you  forest  people,  but  the 
Wizard  wouldn't  hurt  a  beast  for  anything." 

"  I  don't  mean  the  Wizard,"  explained  the  Wolf. 
**  And  if  the  Wizard  of  Oz  is  that  funny  little  man  who 
rode  a  great  Tiger  into  the  clearing,  he's  been  trans- 
formed himself  by  the  terrible  Magician." 

"The  Wizard  transformed?  Why,  that's  impossi- 
ble,'^ declared  the  Glass  Cat. 

"  No;  it  isn't.  I  saw  him  with  my  own  eyes,  changed 
into  the  form  of  a  Fox,  and  the  girl  who  was  with  him 
was  changed  to  a  woolly  Lamb." 

The  Glass  Cat  was  indeed  surprised. 

"  When  did  that  happen?  "  it  asked. 

"Just  a  little  while  ago  in  the  clearing.  All  the 
animals  had  met  there,  but  they  ran  away  when  the 
Magician  began  his  transformations,  and  I'm  thankful 
I  escaped  with  my  natural  shape.  But  I'm  still  afraid, 
and  I'm  going  somewhere  to  hide." 

With  this  the  Wolf  ran  on,  and  the  Glass  Cat,  which 
knew  where  the  big  clearing  was,  went  toward  it.     But 

152 


Chapter  Thirteen 


now  it  walked  more  slowly,  and  its  pink  brains  rolled 
and  tumbled  around  at  a  great  rate  because  it  was 
thinking  over  the  amazing  news  the  Wolf  had  told  it. 

When  the  Glass  Cat  reached  the  clearing,  it  saw  a 
Fox,  a  Lamb,  a  Rabbit,  a  Munchkin  boy  and  a  fat 
Gillikin  woman,  all  wandering  around  in  an  aimless 
sort  of  way,  for  they  were  again  searching  for  the 
Black  Bag  of  Magic  Tools. 

The  Cat  watched  them  a  moment  and  then  it  walked 
slowly  into  the  open  space.  At  once  the  Lamb  ran 
toward  it,  crying: 

"  Oh,  Wizard,  here's  the  Glass  Cat  I '' 

"  Where,  Dorothy?  "  asked  the  Fox. 

"Here!" 

The  Boy  and  the  Woman  and  the  Rabbit  now  joined 
the  Fox  and  the  Lamb,  and  they  all  stood  before  the 
Glass  Cat  and  speaking  together,  almost  like  a  chorus, 
asked:    "Have  you  seen  the  Black  Bag?" 

"  Often,"  replied  the  Glass  Cat,  "  but  not  lately." 

"  It's  lost,"  said  the  Fox,  "  and  we  must  find  it." 

"  Are  you  the  Wizard?  "  asked  the  Cat. 

"  Yes.'^' 

"And  who  are  these  others?" 

"  Fm  Dorothy,"  said  the  Lamb. 

"  Fm  the  Cowardly  Lion,"  said  the  Munchkin  boy. 

153 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  I'm  the  Hungry  Tiger,"  said  the  Eabbit. 

"  Fm  Gugu,  King  of  the  Forest,"  said  the  fat  Woman. 

The  Glass  Cat  sat  on  its  hind  legs  and  began  to 
laugh.  "  My,  what  a  funny  lot!  "  exclaimed  the  Crea- 
ture,   "  Who  played  this  joke  on  you?  " 

"  It's  no  joke  at  all,"  declared  the  Wizard.  "  It  was 
a  cruel,  wicked  transformation,  and  the  Magician  that 
did  it  has  the  head  of  a  lion,  the  body  of  a  monkey,  the 
wings  of  an  eagle  and  a  round  ball  on  the  end  of  his 
tail." 

The  Glass  Cat  laughed  again.  "  That  Magician  must 
look  funnier  than  you  do,"  it  said.  "Where  is  he 
now?" 

"  Somewhere  in  the  forest,"  said  the  Cowardly  Lion. 
"  He  just  jumped  into  that  tall  maple  tree  over  there, 
for  he  can  climb  like  a  monkey  and  fly  like  an  eagle, 
and  then  he  disappeared  in  the  forest." 

"And  there  was  another  Magician,  just  like  him, 
who  was  his  friend,"  added  Dorothy,  "  but  they  prob- 
ably quarreled,  for  the  wickedest  one  changed  his 
friend  into  the  form  of  a  Goose." 

"What  became  of  the  Goose?"  asked  the  Cat,  look- 
ing around. 

"He  must  have   gone   away  to  find  his   friend," 

answered  Gugu  the  King.    "  But  a  Goose  can't  travel 

154 


Chapter  Thirteen 


very  fast,  so  we  could  easily  find  him  if  we  wanted  to." 

"  The  worst  thing  of  all,"  said  the  Wizard,  "  is  that 

my  Black  Bag  is  lost.     It  disappeaerd  when  I  was 

transformed.     Tf  I  could  find  it  I  could  easily  break 


Ufs^V****^, 


these  enchantments  by  means  of  my  magic,  and  we 
would  resume  our  own  forms  again.  Will  you  help 
us  search  for  the  Black  Bag,  Friend  Cat?  " 

"  Of  course,"  replied  the  Glass  Cat.  "  But  I  expect 
the  strange  Magician  carried  it  away  with  him.  If 
he's  a  magician,  he  knows  you  need  that  Bag,  and 

155 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


perhaps  he's  afraid  of  your  magic.  So  he's  probably 
taken  the  Bag  with  him,  and  you  won't  see  it  again 
unless  you  find  the  Magician." 

"That  sounds  reasonable,"  remarked  the  Lamb, 
which  was  Dorothy.  "Those  pink  brains  of  yours 
seem  to  be  working  pretty  well  to-day." 

"If  the  Glass  Cat  is  right,"  said  the  Wizard  in  a 
solemn  voice,  "  there's  more  trouble  ahead  of  us.  That 
Magician  is  dangerous,  and  if  we  go  near  him  he  may 
transform  us  into  shapes  not  as  nice  as  these." 

"  I  don't  see  how  we  could  be  any  worse  off,"  growled 
Gugu,  who  was  indignant  because  he  was  forced  to 
appear  in  the  form  of  a  fat  woman. 

"  Anyway,"  said  the  Cowardly  Lion,  "  our  best  plan 
is  to  find  the  Magician  and  try  to  get  the  Black  Bag 
from  him.  We  may  manage  to  steal  it,  or  perhaps  we 
can  argue  him  into  giving  it  to  us." 

"Why  not  find  the  Goose,  first?"  asked  Dorothy. 
"  The  Goose  will  be  angry  at  the  Magician,  and  he  may 
be  able  to  help  us." 

"That   isn't   a   bad  idea,"   returned   the   Wizard. 

"  Come  on,  Friends;  let's  find  that  Goose.    We  will 

separate  and  search  in  different  directions,  and  the 

first  to  find  the  Goose  must  bring  him  here,  where  we 

will  all  meet  again  in  an  hour." 

156 


The  Wizard  Learns  the  Magic  Word 


H 


■^:t^ 


'H 


O 


CHAPTER  14 

Now,  the  Goose  was  the 
transformation  of  old  Rug- 
gedo,  who  was  at  one  time 
King  of  the  Nomes,  and  he 
was  even  more  angry  at 
Kiki  Aru  than  were  the 
others  whose  shapes  had  been 
changed.  The  Nome  detested 
anything  in  the  way  of  a  bird, 
because  birds  lay  eggs  and 
eggs  are  feared  by  all  le 
Nomes  more  than  anything 
else  in  the  world.  A  goose  is 
157 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


a  foolish  bird,  too,  and  Ruggedo  was  dreadfully 
ashamed  of  the  shape  he  was  forced  to  wear.  And  it 
would  make  him  shudder  to  reflect  that  the  Goose 
might  lay  an  egg  I 

So  the  Nome  was  afraid  of  himself  and  afraid  of 
everything  around  him.  If  an  egg  touched  him  he 
could  then  be  destroyed,  and  almost  any  animal  he 
met  in  the  forest  might  easily  conquer  him.  And  that 
would  be  the  end  of  old  Ruggedo  the  Nome. 

Aside  from  these  fears,  however,  he  was  filled  with 
anger  against  Kiki,  whom  he  had  meant  to  trap  by 
cleverly  stealing  from  him  the  Magic  Word.  The  boy 
must  have  been  crazy  to  spoil  everything  the  way  he 
did,  but  Ruggedo  knew  that  the  arrival  of  the  Wizard 
had  scared  Kiki,  and  he  was  not  sorry  the  boy  had 
transformed  the  Wizard  and  Dorothy  and  made  them 
helpless.  It  was  his  own  transformation  that  annoyed 
him  and  made  him  indignant,  so  he  ran  about  the 
forest  hunting  for  Kiki,  so  that  he  might  get  a  better 
shape  and  coax  the  boy  to  follow  his  plans  to  conquer 
the  Land  of  Oz. 

Kiki  Aru  hadn't  gone  very  far  away,  for  he  had 
surprised  himself  as  well  as  the  others  by  the  quick 
transformations  and  was  puzzled  as  to  what  to  do  next. 
Ruggedo  the  Nome  was  overbearing  and  tricky,  and 

158 


Chapter  Fourteen 


Kiki  knew  he  was  not  to  be  depended  on;  but  the  Nome 
could  plan  and  plot,  which  the  Hyup  boy  was  not  wise 
enough  to  do,  and  so,  when  he  looked  down  through 
the  branches  of  a  tree  and  saw  a  Goose  waddling  along 
below  and  heard  it  cry  out,  "Kiki  Arul  Quack  — 
quack!  Kiki  Aru! "  the  boy  answered  in  a  low  voice, 
"  Here  I  am,''  and  swung  himself  down  to  the  lowest 
limb  of  the  tree. 

The  Goose  looked  up  and  saw  him. 

"You've  bungled  things  in  a  dreadful  way  I"  ex- 
claimed the  Goose.    "  Why  did  you  do  it?  " 

"Because  I  wanted  to,"  answered  Kiki.  "You 
acted  as  if  I  was  your  slave,  and  I  wanted  to  show 
these  forest  people  that  I  am  more  powerful  than 
you." 

The  Goose  hissed  softly,  but  Kiki  did  not  hear  that. 

Old  Ruggedo  quickly  recovered  his  wits  and  mut- 
tered to  himself:  "  This  boy  is  the  goose,  although  it 
is  I  who  wear  the  goose's  shape.  I  will  be  gentle  with 
him  now,  and  fierce  with  him  when  I  have  him  in  my 
power."    Then  he  said  aloud  to  Kiki: 

"  Well,  hereafter  I  will  be  content  to  acknowledge 
you  the  master.  You  bungled  things,  as  I  said,  but  we 
can  still  conquer  Oz." 

"How?"  asked  the  boy. 

159 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  First  give  me  back  the  shape  of  the  Li-Mon-Eag, 
and  then  we  can  talk  together  more  conveniently," 
suggested  the  Nome. 

"Wait  a  moment,  then,"  said  Kiki,  and  climbed 
higher  up  the  tree.  There  he  whispered  the  Magic 
Word  and  the  Goose  became  a  Li-Mon-Eag,  as  he  had 
been  before. 

"  GoodI "  said  the  Nome,  well  pleased,  as  Kiki  joined 
him  by  dropping  down  from  the  tree.  "  Now  let  us 
find  a  quiet  place  where  we  can  talk  without  being 
overheard  by  the  beasts." 

So  the  two  started  away  and  crossed  the  forest  until 
they  came  to  a  place  where  the  trees  were  not  so  tall 
nor  so  close  together,  and  among  these  scattered  trees 
was  another  clearing,  not  so  large  as  the  first  one, 
where  the  meeting  of  the  beasts  had  been  held.  Stand- 
ing on  the  edge  of  this  clearing  and  looking  across  it, 
they  saw  the  trees  on  the  farther  side  full  of  monkeys, 
who  were  chattering  together  at  a  great  rate  of  the 
sights  they  had  witnessed  at  the  meeting. 

The  old  Nome  whispered  to  Kiki  not  to  enter  the 
clearing  or  allow  the  monkeys  to  see  them. 

"  Why  not?  "  asked  the  boy,  drawing  back. 

"  Because  those  monkeys  are  to  be  our  army  —  the 
army  which  will  conquer  Oz,"  said  the  Nome.    "  Sit 

160 


Chapter  Fourteen 


down  here  with  me,  Kiki,  and  keep  quiet,  and  I  will 
explain  to  you  my  plan." 

Now,  neither  Kiki  Aru  nor  Euggedo  had  noticed 
that  a  sly  Fox  had  followed  them  all  the  way  from 
the  tree  where  the  Goose  had  been  transformed  to  the 
Li-Mon-Eag.  Indeed,  this  Fox,  who  was  none  other 
than  the  Wizard  of  Oz,  had  witnessed  the  transfor- 
mation of  the  Goose  and  now  decided  he  would  keep 
watch  of  the  conspirators  and  see  what  they  would 
do  next. 

A  Fox  can  move  through  a  forest  very  softly,  with- 
out making  any  noise,  and  so  the  Wizard's  enemies 
did  not  suspect  his  presence.  But  when  they  sat  down 
by  the  edge  of  the  clearing,  to  talk,  with  their  backs 
toward  him,  the  Wizard  did  not  know  whether  to  risk 
being  seen,  by  creeping  closer  to  hear  what  they  said, 
or  whether  it  would  be  better  for  him  to  hide  himself 
until  they  moved  on  again. 

While  he  considered  this  question  he  discovered  near 
him  a  great  tree  which  had  a  hollow  trunk,  and  there 
was  a  round  hole  in  this  tree,  about  three  feet  above 
the  ground.  The  Wizard  Fox  decided  it  would  be 
safer  for  him  to  hide  inside  the  hollow  tree,  so  he 
sprang  into  the  hole  and  crouched  down  in  the  hollow, 
so  that  his  eyes  just  came  to  the  edge  of  the  hole  by 

161 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


which  he  had  entered,  and  from  here  he  watched  the 
forms  of  the  two  Li-Mon-Eags. 

"  This  is  my  plan,"  said  the  Nome  to  Kiki,  speaking 
so  low  that  the  Wizard  could  only  hear  the  rumble  of 
his  voice.  "  Since  you  can  transform  anything  into 
any  form  you  wish,  we  will  transform  these  monkeys 
into  an  army,  and  with  that  army  we  will  conquer  the 
Oz  people." 

"The  monkeys  won't  make  much  of  an  army," 
objected  Kiki. 

"  We  need  a  great  army,  but  not  a  numerous  one," 
responded  the  Nome.  "You  will  transform  each 
monkey  into  a  giant  man,  dressed  in  a  fine  uniform 
and  armed  with  a  sharp  sword.  There  are  fifty 
monkeys  over  there  and  fifty  giants  would  make  as 
big  an  army  as  we  need." 

"  What  will  they  do  with  the  swords?  "  asked  Kiki. 
"  Nothing  can  kill  the  Oz  people." 

*'  True,"  said  Ruggedo.  "  The  Oz  people  cannot  be 
killed,  but  they  can  be  cut  into  small  pieces,  and  while 
every  piece  will  still  be  alive,  we  can  scatter  the  pieces 
around  so  that  they  will  be  quite  helpless.  Therefore, 
the  Oz  people  will  be  afraid  of  the  swords  of  our  army, 
and  we  will  conquer  them  with  ease." 

"That  seems  like  a  good  idea,"  replied  the  boy, 

162 


Chapter  Fourteen 


approvingly.  "  And  in  such  a  case,  we  need  not  bother 
with  the  other  beasts  of  the  forest." 

"  No;  you  have  frightened  the  beasts,  and  they  would 
no  longer  consent  to  assist  us  in  conquering  Oz.  But 
those  monkeys  are  foolish  creatures,  and  once  they  are 
transformed  to  Giants,  they  will  do  just  as  we  say  and 
obey  our  commands.  Can  you  transform  them  all  at 
once?" 

"  No,  I  must  take  one  at  a  time,"  said  Eaki.  "  But 
the  fifty  transformations  can  be  made  in  an  hour  or  so. 
Stay  here,  Euggedo,  and  I  will  change  the  first  monkey 
—  that  one  at  the  left,  on  the  end  of  the  limb  —  into  a 
Giant  with  a  sword." 

"Where  are  you  going?"  asked  the  Nome. 

"  I  must  not  speak  the  Magic  Word  in  the  presence 
of  another  person,"  declared  Kiki,  who  was  determined 
not  to  allow  his  treacherous  companion  to  learn  his 
secret,  "  so  I  will  go  where  you  cannot  hear  me." 

Ruggedo  the  Nome  was  disappointed,  but  he  hoped 
still  to  catch  the  boy  unawares  and  surprise  the  Magic 
Word.  So  he  merely  nodded  his  lion  head,  and  Kiki 
got  up  and  went  back  into  the  forest  a  short  distance. 
Here  he  spied  a  hollow  tree,  and  by  chance  it  was  the 
same  hollow  tree  in  which  the  Wizard  of  Oz,  now  in 
the  form  of  a  Fox,  had  hidden  himself. 

163 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


As  Kiki  ran  up  to  the  tree  the  Fox  ducked  its  head, 
so  that  it  was  out  of  sight  in  the  dark  hollow  beneath 
the  hole,  and  then  Kiki  put  his  face  into  the  hole  and 
whispered:  "I  want  that  monkey  on  th^,  branch  at 
the  left  to  become  a  Giant  man  fifty  feet  tall,  dressed 
in  a  uniform  and  with  a  sharp  sword — P  yrzqxgl!" 

Then  he  ran  back  to  Ruggedo,  but  the  Wizard  Fox 
had  heard  quite  plainly  every  word  that  he  had  said. 

The  monkey  was  instantly  transformed  into  the 
Giant,  and  the  Giant  was  so  big  that  as  he  stood  on  the 
ground  his  head  was  higher  than  the  trees  of  the  forest. 
The  monkeys  raised  a  great  chatter  but  did  not  seem 
to  understand  that  the  Giant  was  one  of  themselves. 

"  Good! "  cried  the  Nome.  "  Hurry,  Kiki,  and  trans- 
form the  others." 

So  Kiki  rushed  back  to  the  tree  and  putting  his  face 
to  the  hollow,  whispered: 

"  I  want  the  next  monkey  to  be  just  like  the  first  — 
Pyrzqxgl!" 

Again  the  Wizard  Fox  heard  the  Magic  Word,  and 
just  how  it  was  pronounced.  But  he  sat  still  in  the 
hollow  and  waited  to  hear  it  again,  so  it  would  be 
impressed  on  his  mind  and  he  would  not  forget  it. 

Kiki  kept  running  to  the  edge  of  the  forest  and  back 
to  the  hollow  tree  again  until  he  had  whispered  the 

164 


Chapter  Fourteen 


Magic  Word  six  times  and  six  monkeys  had  been 
changed  to  six  great  giants.  Then  the  Wizard 
decided  he  would  make  an  experiment  and  use  the 
Magic  Word  himself.  So,  while  Kiki  was  running 
back  to  the  Nome,  the  Fox  stuck  his  head  out  of  the 


hollow  and  said  softly:    "  I  want  that  creature  who  is 
running  to  become  a  hickory-nut « —  Pyrzqxgl!" 

Instantly  the  Li-Mon-Eag  form  of  Kiki  Aru  the 
Hyup  disappeared  and  a  small  hickory-nut  rolled  upon 
the  ground  a  moment  and  then  lay  still. 

165 


The  Magic  of  Qz 


The  Wizard  was  delighted,  and  leaped  from  the  hol- 
|low  just  as  Euggedo  looked  around  to  see  what  had 
become  of  Eaki.  The  Nome  saw  the  Fox  but  no  Kiki, 
so  he  hastily  rose  to  his  feet.  The  Wizard  did  not 
know  how  powerful  the  queer  beast  might  be,  so  he 
resolved  to  take  no  chances. 

"  I  want  this  creature  to  become  a  walnut  — 
Pyrzqxgl!"  he  said  aloud.  But  he  did  not  pro- 
nounce the  Magic  Word  in  quite  the  right  way,  and 
Ruggedo's  form  did  not  change.  But  the  Nome  knew 
at  once  that  "Pyrzqxgl!"  was  the  Magic  Word,  so 
he  rushed  at  the  Fox  and  cried: 

" I  want  you  to  become  a  Goose  —  Pyrzqxgl!*' 

But  the  Nome  did  not  pronounce  the  word  aright, 
either,  having  never  heard  it  spoken  but  once  before, 
and  then  with  a  wrong  accent.  So  the  Fox  was  not 
transformed,  but  it  had  to  run  away  to  escape  being 
caught  by  the  angry  Nome. 

Euggedo  now  began  pronouncing  the  Magic  Word 

in  every  way  he  could  think  of,  hoping  to  hit  the  right 

one,  and  the  Fox,  hiding  in  a  bush,  was  somewhat 

troubled  by  the  fear  that  he  might  succeed.    However, 

the  Wizard,  who  was  used  to  magic  arts,  remained 

calm  and  soon  remembered  exactly  how  Kiki  Aru  had 

pronounced  the  word.    So  he  repeated  the  sentence 

166 


Chapter  Fourteen 


he  had  before  uttered  and  Ruggedo  the  Nome  became 
an  ordinary  walnut. 

The  Wizard  now  crept  out  from  the  bush  and  said: 
"  I  want  my  own  form  again  —  Pyrzqxgll" 


Instantly  he  was  the  Wizard  of  Oz,  and  after  picking 
up  the  hickory-nut  and  the  walnut,  and  carefully  plac- 
ing them  in  his  pocket,  he  ran  back  to  the  big  clearing. 

Dorothy  the  Lamb  uttered  a  bleat  of  delight  when 
she  saw  her  old  friend  restored  to  his  natural  shape. 

167 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


The  others  were  all  there,  not  having  found  the  Goose. 
The  fat  Gillikin  woman,  the  Munehkin  boy,  the  Rabbit 
and  the  Glass  Cat  crowded  around  the  Wizard  and 
asked  what  had  happened. 

Before  he  explained  anything  of  his  adventure,  he 
transformed  them  all  —  except,  of  course,  the  Glass 
Cat  —  into  their  natural  shapes,  and  when  their  joy 
permitted  them  to  quiet  somewhat,  he  told  how  he  had 
by  chance  surprised  the  Magician's  secret  and  been 
able  to  change  the  two  Li-Mon-Eags  into  shapes  that 
could  not  speak,  and  therefore  would  be  unable  to  help 
themselves.  And  the  little  Wizard  showed  his  aston- 
ished friends  the  hickory-nut  and  the  walnut  to  prove 
that  he  had  spoken  the  truth. 

"  But  —  see  here!  "  —  exclaimed  Dorothy,  "  What 
has  become  of  those  Giant  Soldiers  who  used  to  be 
monkeys?" 

"  I  forgot  all  about  them! "  admitted  the  Wizard; 
"  but  I  suppose  they  are  still  standing  there  in  the 
forest." 


168 


The  Lonesome  Duck 


[>^: 


tf: 


'SS 


>^ 


^ 


UvJJ 


CHAPTER  15 

Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  stood 
before  the  Magic  Flower,  act- 
ually rooted  to  the  spot. 

"  Aren't  you  hungry, 
Cap'n?"  asked  the  little  girl, 
with  a  long  sigh,  for  she  had 
been  standing  there  for  hours 
and  hours. 

"Well,"  replied  the  sailor- 
man,  "  I  ain't  sayin'  as  I 
couldn't  eatt  Trot  —  if  a  din- 
ner was  handy  —  but  I  guess 
169 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


old  folks  don't  get  as  hungry  as  young  folks  do." 

"Fm  not  sure  'bout  that,  Cap'n  Bill,"  she  said 
thoughtfully.  "Age  might  make  a  diff'rence,  but 
seems  to  me  size  would  make  a  bigger  diff'rence.  See- 
ing you're  twice  as  big  as  me,  you  ought  to  be  twice 
as  hungry." 

"  I  hope  I  am,"  he  rejoined,  "  for  I  can  stand  it  a 
while  longer.  I  do  hope  the  Glass  Cat  will  hurry,  and 
I  hope  the  Wizard  won't  waste  time  a-comin'  to  us." 

Trot  sighed  again  and  watched  the  wonderful  Magic 
Flower,  because  there  was  nothing  else  to  do.  Just 
now  a  lovely  group  of  pink  peonies  budded  and 
bloomed,  but  soon  they  faded  away,  and  a  mass  of  deep 
blue  lilies  took  their  place.  Then  some  yellow  chrys- 
anthemums blossomed  on  the  plant,  and  when  they 
had  opened  all  their  petals  and  reached  perfection, 
they  gave  way  to  a  lot  of  white  floral  balls  spotted 
with  crimson  —  a  flower  Trot  had  never  seen  before. 

"  But  T  get  awful  tired  watchin'  flowers  an'  flowers 
an'  flowers,"  she  said  impatiently. 

"  They're  mighty  pretty,"  observed  Cap'n  Bill. 

"  I  know;  and  if  a  person  could  come  and  look  at  the 

Magic  Flower  just  when  she  felt  like  it,  it  would  be  a 

fine  thing,  but  to  have  to  stand  and  watch  it,  whether 

you  want  to  or  not,  isn't  so  much  fun.    I  wish,  Cap'n 

170 


Chapter  Fifteen 


Bill,  the  thing  would  grow  fruit  for  a  while  instead  of 
flowers." 

Scarcely  had  she  spoken  when  the  white  balls  with 
crimson  spots  faded  away  and  a  lot  of  beautiful  ripe 
peaches  took  their  place.  With  a  cry  of  mingled 
surprise  and  delight  Trot  reached  out  and  plucked  a 
peach  from  the  bush  and  began  to  eat  it,  finding  it 
delicious.  Cap'n  Bill  was  somewhat  dazed  at  the 
girl's  wish  being  granted  so  quickly,  so  before  he 
could  pick  a  peach  they  had  faded  away  and  bananas 
took  their  place.  "  Grab  one,  Cap'n!  "  exclaimed  Trot, 
and  even  while  eating  the  peach  she  seized  a  banana 
with  her  other  hand  and  tore  it  from  the  bush. 

The  old  sailor  was  still  bewildered.  He  put  out  a 
hand  indeed,  but  he  was  too  late,  for  now  the  bananas 
disappeared  and  lemons  took  their  place. 

"  Pshaw!  "  cried  Trot.  "  You  can't  eat  those  things; 
but  w^atch  out,  Cap'n,  for  something  else." 

"  Cocoanuts  next  appeared,  but  Cap'n  Bill  shook  his 
head. 

"  Ca'n't  crack  'em,"  he  remarked,  "  'cause  we  haven't 
anything  handy  to  smash  'em  with." 

"Well,  take  one,  anyhow,"  advised  Trot;  but  the 
cocoanuts  were  gone  now,  and  a  deep,  purple,  pear- 
shaped  fruit  which  was  unknown  to  them  took  their 

171 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


place.  Again  Cap'n  Bill  hesitated,  and  Trot  said  to 
him: 

"  You  ought  to  have  captured  a  peach  and  a  banana, 
as  I  did.  If  you're  not  careful,  Cap'n,  you'll  miss  all 
your  chances.    Here,  I'll  divide  my  banana  with  you." 

Even  as  she  spoke,  the  Magic  Plant  was  covered 
with  big  red  apples,  growing  on  every  branch,  and 
Cap'n  Bill  hesitated  no  longer.  He  grabbed  with  both 
hands  and  picked  two  apples,  while  Trot  had  only  time 
to  secure  one  before  they  were  gone. 

"  It's  curious,"  remarked  the  sailor,  munching  his 
apple,  "how  these  fruits  keep  good  when  you've 
picked  'em,  but  dis'pear  inter  thin  air  if  they're  left 
on  the  bush." 

"  The  whole  thing  is  curious,"  declared  the  girl, 
"  and  it  couldn't  exist  in  any  country  but  this,  where 
magic  is  so  common.  Those  are  limes.  Don't  pick  'em, 
for  they'd  pucker  up  your  mouth  and  —  Ooo!  here 
come  plums! "  and  she  tucked  her  apple  in  her  apron 
pocket  and  captured  three  plums  —  each  one  almost  as 
big  as  an  egg  —  before  they  disappeared.  Cap'n  Bill 
got  some  too,  but  both  were  too  hungry  to  fast  any 
longer,  so  they  began  eating  their  apples  and  plums 
and  let  the  magic  bush  bear  all  sorts  of  fruits,  one  after 
another.    The  Cap'n  stopped  once  to  pick  a  fine  canta- 

172 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


loupe,  which  he  held  under  his  arm,  and  Trot,  having 
finished  her  plums,  got  a  handful  of  cherries  and  an 
orange;  but  when  almost  every  sort  of  fruit  had 
appeared  on  the  bush,  the  crop  ceased  and  only  flow- 
ers, as  before,  bloomed  upon  it. 

"  I  wonder  why  it  changed  back,"  mused  Trot,  who 
was  not  worried  because  she  had  enough  fruit  to  sat- 
isfy her  hunger. 

"  Well,  you  only  wished  it  would  bear  fruit  '  for  a 
while,'  "  said  the  sailor,  "  and  it  did.  P'raps  if  you'd 
said  '  forever,'  Trot,  it  would  have  always  been  fruit." 

'^  But  why  should  my  wish  be  obeyed?"  asked  the 
girl.  "  I'm  not  a  fairy  or  a  wizard  or  any  kind  of  a 
magic-maker." 

"  I  guess,"  replied  Cap'n  Bill,  "  that  this  little  island 
is  a  magic  island,  and  any  folks  on  it  can  tell  the  bush 
what  to  produce,  an'  it'll  produce  it." 

"  Do  you  think  I  could  wish  for  anything  else,  Cap'n, 
and  get  it?"  she  inquired  anxiously. 

"What  are  you  thinkin'  of.  Trot?" 

^*  I'm  thinking  of  wishing  that  these  roots  on  our 
feet  would  disappear,  and  let  us  free." 

"  Trv  it.  Trot." 

So  she  tried  it,  and  the  wish  had  no  effect  whatever. 

"  Try  it  yourself,  Cap'n,"  she  suggested. 

174 


Chapter  Fifteen 


Then  Cap'n  Bill  made  the  wish  to  be  free,  with  no 
better  result. 

"No,"  said  he,  "it's  no  use;  the  wishes  only  affect 
the  Magic  Plant;  but  Fm  glad  we  can  make  it  bear 
fruit,  'cause  now  we  know  we  won't  starve  before  the 
Wizard  gets  to  us." 

"  But  I'm  gett'n'  tired  standing  here  so  long,"  com- 
plained the  girl.  "  If  I  could  only  lift  one  foot,  and 
rest  it,  I'd  feel  better." 

"  Same  with  me,  Trot.  I've  noticed  that  if  you've 
got  to  do  a  thing,  and  can't  help  yourself,  it  gets  to 
be  a  hardship  mighty  quick." 

"Folks  that  can  raise  their  feet  don't  appreciate 
what  a  blessing  it  is,"  said  Trot  thoughtfully.  "  I 
never  knew  before  what  fun  it  is  to  raise  one  foot, 
an'  then  another,  any  time  you  feel  like  it." 

"  There's  lots  o'  things  folks  don't  'preciate,"  replied 
the  sailor-man.  "  If  somethin'  would  'most  stop  your 
breath,  you'd  think  breathin'  easy  was  the  finest  thing 
in  life.  When  a  person's  well,  he  don't  realize  how 
jolly  it  is,  but  when  he  gets  sick  he  'members  the  time 
he  was  well,  an'  wishes  that  time  would  come  back. 
Most  folks  forget  to  thank  God  for  givin'  'em  two 
good  legs,  till  they  lose  one  o'  'em,  like  T  did;  and 
then  it's  too  late,  'cept  to  praise  God  for  k  ivin'  one." 

175 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  Your  wooden  leg  ain't  so  bad,  Cap'n,"  she 
remarked,  looking  at  it  critically.  "  Anyhow,  it  don't 
take  root  on  a  Magic  Island,  like  our  meat  legs  do." 

"  I  ain't  complaininV'  said  Cap'n  Bill.  "  What's 
that  swimmin'  towards  us.  Trot?"  he  added,  looking 
over  the  Magic  Flower  and  across  the  water. 

The  girl  looked,  too,  and  then  she  replied. 

"  It's  a  bird  of  some  sort.  It's  like  a  duck,  only  I 
never  saw  a  duck  have  so  many  colors." 

The  bird  swam  swiftly  and  gracefully  toward  the 
Magic  Isle,  and  as  it  drew  nearer  its  gorgeously  col- 
ored plumage  astonished  them.  The  feathers  were 
of  many  hues  of  glistening  greens  and  blues  and  pur- 
ples, and  it  had  a  yellow  head  with  a  red  plume,  and 
pink,  white  and  violet  in  its  tail.  When  it  reached 
the  Isle,  it  came  ashore  and  approached  them,  wad- 
dling slowly  and  turning  its  head  first  to  one  side  and 
then  to  the  other,  so  as  to  see  the  girl  and  the  sailor 
better. 

"  You're  strangers,"  said  the  bird,  coming  to  a  halt 
near  them,  "  and  you've  been  caught  by  the  Magic 
Isle  and  made  prisoners." 

"Yes,"  returned  Trot,  with  a  sigh;  "we're  rooted. 

But  I  hope  we  won't  grow." 

"  You'll  grow  small,"  said  the  Bird.    "  You'll  keep 

176 


Chapter  Fifteen 


growing  smaller  every  day,  until  bye  and  bye  there'll 
be  nothing  left  of  you.  That's  the  usual  way,  on  this 
Magic  Isle." 

"  How  do  you  know  about  it,  and  who  are  you,  any- 
how?" asked  Cap'n  Bill. 


it  T>, 


I'm  the  Lonesome  Duck,"  replied  the  bird.  "  I 
suppose  you've  heard  of  me'? " 

"  No,"  said  Trot,  "  I  can't  say  I  have.  What  makes 
you  lonesome  ?  " 

"Why,   I  haven't   any   family   or  any   relations," 

returned  the  Duck. 

177 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"Haven't  you  any  friends'?" 

"  Not  a  friend.  And  I've  nothing  to  do.  I've  lived 
a  long  time,  and  I've  got  to  live  forever,  because  I 
belong  in  the  Land  of  Oz,  where  no  living  thing  dies. 
Think  of  existing  year  after  year,  with  no  friends, 
no  family,  and  nothing  to  do!  Can  you  wonder  I'm 
lonesome  ?  " 

"  Why  don't  you  make  a  few  friends,  and  find  some- 
thing to  do?  "  inquired  Cap'n  Bill. 

"  I  can't  make  friends  because  everyone  I  meet  — 
bird,  beast  or  person  —  is  disagreeable  to  me.  In  a 
few  minutes  I  shall  be  unable  to  bear  your  society 
longer,  and  then  I'll  go  away  and  leave  you,"  said  the 
Lonesome  Duck.  "  And,  as  for  doing  anything,  there's 
no  use  in  it.  All  I  meet  are  doing  something,  so  I 
have  decided  it's  common  and  uninteresting  and  I 
prefer  to  remain  lonesome." 

"Don't  you  have  to  hunt  for  your  food?"  asked 
Trot. 

"  No.  In  my  diamond  palace,  a  little  way  up  the 
river,  food  is  magically  supplied  me;  but  I  seldom  eat, 
because  it  is  so  common." 

"  You  must  be  a  Magician  Duck,"  remarked  Cap'n 
Bill. 

"Why  so?" 

178 


Chapter  Fifteen 


"  Well,  ordinary  ducks  don't  have  diamond  palaces 
an'  magic  food,  like  you  do." 

"  True;  and  that's  another  reason  why  I'm  lonesome. 
You  must  remember  I'm  the  only  Duck  in  the  Land 
of  Oz,  and  I'm  not  like  any  other  duck  in  the  outside 
world." 

**  Seems  to  me  you  like  bein'  lonesome,"  observed 
Cap'n  Bill. 

"I  can't  say  I  like  it,  exactly,"  replied  the  Duck, 
^*  but  since  it  seems  to  be  my  fate,  I'm  rather  proud 
of  it." 

"How  do  you  s'pose  a  single,  solitary  Duck  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  Land  of  Oz?  "  asked  Trot,  wonder- 
ingly. 

"I  used  to  know  the  reason,  many  years  ago,  but 
I've  quite  forgotten  it,"  declared  the  Duck.  "The 
reason  for  a  thing  is  never  so  important  as  the  thing 
itself,  so  there's  no  use  remembering  anything  but 
the  fact  that  I'm  lonesome." 

"  I  guess  you'd  be  happier  if  you  tried  to  do  some- 
thing," asserted  Trot.  "  If  you  can't  do  anything  for 
yourself,  you  can  do  things  for  others,  and  then  you'd 
get  lots  of  friends  and  stop  being  lonesome." 

"  Now  you're  getting  disagreeable,"  said  the  Lone- 
some Duck,  "  and  I  shall  have  to  go  and  leave  you." 

179 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  Can't  you  help  us  any,"  pleaded  the  girl.  "  If 
there's  anything  magic  about  you,  you  might  get  us 
out  of  this  scrape." 

"  I  haven't  any  magic  strong  enough  to  get  you 
off  the  Magic  Isle,"  replied  the  Lonesome  Duck. 
"What  magic  I  possess  is  very  simple,  but  I  find  it 
enough  for  my  own  needs." 

"  If  we  could  only  sit  down  a  while,  we  could  stand 
it  better,"  said  Trot,  "  but  we  have  nothing  to  sit  on." 

"  Then  you  will  have  to  stand  it,"  said  the  Lone- 
some Duck. 

"P'raps  you've  enough  magic  to  give  us  a  couple 
of  stools,"  suggested  Cap'n  Bill. 

"  A  duck  isn't  supposed  to  know  what  stools  are," 
was  the  reply. 

"  But  you're  diff'rent  from  all  other  ducks." 

"  That  is  true."  The  strange  creature  seemed  to 
reflect  for  a  moment,  looking  at  them  sharply  from 
its  round  black  eyes.  Then  it  said:  "  Sometimes, 
when  the  sun  is  hot,  I  grow  a  toadstool  to  shelter  me 
from  its  rays.    Perhaps  you  could  sit  on  toadstools." 

"  Well,  if  they  were  strong  enough,  they'd  do." 
answered  Cap'n  Bill. 

"  Then,  before  I  go  I'll  give  you  a  couple,"  said  the 

Lonesome  Duck,  and  began  waddling  about  in  a  smaU 

180 


Chapter  Fifteen 


circle.  It  went  around  the  circle  to  the  right  three 
times,  and  then  it  went  around  to  the  left  three  times. 
Then  it  hopped  backward  three  times  and  forward 
three  times. 

"What  are  you  doing?"  asked  Trot. 

"Don't  interrupt.  This  is  an  incantation,"  replied 
the  Lonesome  Duck,  but  now  it  began  making  a  suc- 
cession of  soft  noises  that  sounded  like  quacks  and 
seemed  to  mean  nothing  at  all.  And  it  kept  up  these 
sounds  so  long  that  Trot  finally  exclaimed: 

"Can't  you  hurry  up  and  finish  that  'cantation? 
If  it  takes  all  summer  to  make  a  couple  of  toadstools, 
you're  not  much  of  a  magician." 

"I  told  you  not  to  interrupt,"  said  the  Lonesome 
Duck,  sternly.  "If  you  get  too  disagreeable,  you'll 
drive  me  away  before  I  finish  this  incantation." 

Trot  kept  quiet,  after  the  rebuke,  and  the  Duck 
resumed  the  quacky  muttering.  Cap'n  Bill  chuckled 
a  little  to  himself  and  remarked  to  Trot  in  a  whisper: 
"  For  a  bird  that  ain't  got  anything  to  do,  this  Lone- 
some Duck  is  makin'  consider'ble  fuss.  An'  I  ain't 
sure,  after  all,  as  toadstools  would  be  worth  sittin'  on." 

Even  as  he  spoke,  the  sailor-man  felt  something 

touch  him  from  behind  and,  turning  his  head,  he  found 

a  big  toadstool  in  just  the  right  place  and  of  just  the 

181 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


right  size  to  sit  upon.  There  was  one  behind  Trot, 
too,  and  with  a  cry  of  pleasure  the  little  girl  sank 
back  upon  it  and  found  it  a  very  comfortable  seat  — 
solid,  yet  almost  like  a  cushion.  Even  Cap'n  BilFs 
weight  did  not  break  his  toadstool  down,  and  when 
both  were  seated,  they  found  that  the  Lonesome  Duck 
had  waddled  away  and  was  now  at  the  water's  edge. 

"Thank  you,  ever  so  much!"  cried  Trot,  and  the 
sailor  called  out:    "  Much  obliged  I " 

But  the  Lonesome  Duck  paid  no  attention.  With- 
out even  looking  in  their  direction  again,  the  gaudy 
fowl  entered  the  water  and  swam  gracefully  away. 


182 


The  Glass  Cat  Finds  the  Black  Bag 


kT 


\: 


L — J 


CHAPTER  16 

When  the  six  monkeys  were 
transformed  by  Kiki  Aru  into 
six  giant  soldiers  fifty  feet 
tall,  their  heads  came  above 
the  top  of  the  trees,  which  in 
this  part  of  the  forest  were 
not  so  high  as  in  some  other 
parts;  and,  although  the  trees 
were  somewhat  scattered,  the 
bodies  of  the  giant  soldiers 
were  so  big  that  they  quite 
filled  the  spaces  in  which  they 
183 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


stood  and  the  branches  pressed  them  on  every  side. 

Of  course,  Kiki  was  foolish  to  have  made  his  sol- 
diers so  big,  for  now  they  could  not  get  out  of  the 
forest.  Indeed,  they  could  not  stir  a  step,  but  were 
imprisoned  by  the  trees.  Even  had  they  been  in  the 
little  clearing  they  could  not  have  made  their  way 
out  of  it,  but  they  were  a  little  beyond  the  clearing. 
At  first,  the  other  monkeys  who  had  not  been 
enchanted  were  afraid  of  the  soldiers,  and  hastily 
quitted  the  place;  but  soon  finding  that  the  great  men 
stood  stock  still,  although  grunting  indignantly  at 
their  transformation,  the  band  of  monkeys  returned 
to  the  spot  and  looked  at  them  curiously,  not  guess- 
ing that  they  were  really  monkeys  and  their  own 
friends. 

The  soldiers  couldn't  see  them,  their  heads  being 
above  the  trees;  they  could  not  even  raise  their  arms 
or  draw  their  sharp  swords,  so  closely  were  they  held 
by  the  leafy  branches.  So  the  monkeys,  finding  the 
giants  helpless,  began  climbing  up  their  bodies,  and 
presently  all  the  band  were  perched  on  the  shoulders 
of  the  giants  and  peering  into  their  faces. 

"  Fm  Ebu,  your  father,"  cried  one  soldier  to  a  mon- 
key who  had  perched  upon  his  left  ear,  "  but  some 
cruel  person  has  enchanted  me." 

184 


Chapter  Sixteen 


"Fm  your  Uncle  Peeker,"  said  another  soldier  to 
another  monkey. 

So,  very  soon  all  the  monkeys  knew  the  truth  and 
were  sorry  for  their  friends  and  relations  and  angry 
at  the  person  —  whoever  it  was  —  who  had  trans- 
formed them.  There  was  a  great  chattering  among 
the  tree-tops,  and  the  noise  attracted  other  monkeys, 
so  that  the  clearing  and  all  the  trees  around  were 
full  of  them. 

Eango  the  Gray  Ape,  who  was  the  Chief  of  all  the 
monkey  tribes  of  the  forest,  heard  the  uproar  and  came 
to  see  what  was  wrong  with  his  people.  And  Eango, 
being  wiser  and  more  experienced,  at  once  knew  that 
the  strange  magician  who  looked  like  a  mixed-up 
beast  was  responsible  for  the  transformations.  He 
realized  that  the  six  giant  soldiers  were  helpless  pris- 
oners, because  of  their  size,  and  knew  he  was  power- 
less to  release  them.  So,  although  he  feared  to  meet 
the  terrible  magician,  he  hurried  away  to  the  great 
clearing  to  tell  Gugu  the  King  what  had  happened 
and  to  try  to  find  the  Wizard  of  Oz  and  get  him  to 
save  his  six  enchanted  subjects. 

Rango  darted  into  the  Great  Clearing  just  as  the 
Wizard  had  restored  all  the  enchanted  ones  around 
him  to  their  proper  shapes,  and  the  Gray  Ape  was 

185 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


glad  to  hear  that  the  wicked  magician-beast  had  been 
conquered. 

"  But  now,  O  mighty  Wizard,  you  must  come  with 
me  to  where  six  of  my  people  are  transformed  into 
six  great  giant  men,"  he  said,  "  for  if  they  are  allowed 
to  remain  there,  their  happiness  and  their  future  lives 
will  be  ruined." 

The  Wizard  did  not  reply  at  once,  for  he  was  think- 
ing this  a  good  opportunity  to  win  Eango's  consent 
to  his  taking  some  monkeys  to  the  Emerald  City  for 
Ozma's  birthday  cake. 

"  It  is  a  great  thing  you  ask  of  me,  0  Rango  the 
Gray  Ape,"  said  he,  "for  the  bigger  the  giants  are 
the  more  powerful  their  enchantment,  and  the  more 
difficult  it  will  be  to  restore  them  to  their  natural 
forms.    However,  I  will  think  it  over." 

Then  the  Wizard  went  to  another  part  of  the  clear- 
ing and  sat  on  a  log  and  appeared  to  be  in  deep 
thought. 

The  Glass  Cat  had  been  greatly  interested  in  the 
Gray  Ape's  story  and  was  curious  to  see  what  the 
giant  soldiers  looked  like.  Hearing  that  their  heads 
extended  above  the  tree-tops,  the  Glass  Cat  decided 
that  if  it  climbed  the  tall  avocado  tree  that  stood  at 
the  side  of  the  clearing,  it  might  be  able  to  see  the 

188 


Chapter  Sixteen 


giants'  heads.  So,  without  mentioning  her  errand, 
the  crystal  creature  went  to  the  tree  and,  by  sticking 
her  sharp  glass  claws  in  the  bark,  easily  climbed  the 
tree  to  its  very  top  and,  looking  over  the  forest,  saw 
the  six  giant  heads,  although  they  were  now  a  long 
way  off.  It  was,  indeed,  a  remarkable  sight,  for  the 
huge  heads  had  immense  soldier  caps  on  them,  with 
red  and  yellow  plumes  and  looked  very  fierce  and 
terrible,  although  the  monkey  hearts  of  the  giants 
were  at  that  moment  filled  with  fear. 

Having  satisfied  her  curiosity,  the  Glass  Cat  began 
to  climb  down  from  the  tree  more  slowly.  Suddenly 
she  discerned  the  Wizard's  black  bag  hanging  to  a 
limb  of  the  tree.  She  grasped  the  black  bag  in  her 
glass  teeth,  and  although  it  was  rather  heavy  for  so 
small  an  animal,  managed  to  get  it  free  and  to  carry 
it  safely  down  to  the  ground.  Then  she  looked  around 
for  the  Wizard  and  seeing  him  seated  upon  the  stump 
she  hid  the  black  bag  among  some  leaves  and  then 
went  over  to  where  the  Wizard  sat. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  you,"  said  the  Glass  Cat,  "  that  Trot 
and  Cap'n  Bill  are  in  trouble,  and  I  came  here  to  hunt 
you  up  and  get  you  to  go  and  rescue  them." 

"  Good  gracious.  Cat!  Why  didn't  you  tell  me 
before?"  exclaimed  the  Wizard. 

189 


Magic  of  Oz 


"For  the  reason  that  I  found  so  mucB  excitement 
here  that  I  forgot  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill." 

"  What's  wrong  with  them?  "  asked  the  Wizard. 

Then  the  Glass  Cat  explained  how  they  had  gone 
to  get  the  Magic  Flower  for  Ozma's  birthday  gift  and 
had  been  trapped  by  the  magic  of  the  queer  island. 
The  Wizard  was  really  alarmed,  but  he  shook  his 
head  and  said  sadly: 

"Pm  afraid  I  can't  help  my  dear  friends,  because 
I've  lost  my  black  bag." 

"If  I  find  it,  will  you  go  to  them?"  asked  the 
creature. 

"  Of  course,"  replied  the  Wizard.  "  But  I  do  not 
think  that  a  Glass  Cat  with  nothing  but  pink  brains 
can  succeed  when  all  the  rest  of  us  have  failed." 

"Don't  you  admire  my  pink  brains?"  demanded 
the  Cat. 

"They're  pretty,"  admitted  the  Wizard,  "but 
they're  not  regular  brains,  you  know,  and  so  we  don't 
expect  them  to  amount  to  much." 

"  But  if  I  find  your  black  bag  —  and  find  it  inside 
©f  five  minutes  —  will  you  admit  my  pink  brains  are 
better  than  your  common  human  brains?" 

"Well,  I'll  admit  they're  better  hunters/^  said  the 
Wizard,  reluctantly,  "but  you  can't  do  it.     We've 

190 


Chapter  Sixteen 


searched  everywhere,  and  the  black  bag  isn't  to  be 
found." 

"That  shows  how  much  you  know!"  retorted  the 
Glass  Cat,  scornfully.  "  Watch  my  brains  a  minute, 
and  see  them  whirl  around." 


The  Wizard  watched,  for  he  was  anxious  to  regain 
his  black  bag,  and  the  pink  brains  really  did  whirl 
around  in  a  remarkable  manner. 

"  Now,  come  with  me,"  commanded  the  Glass  Cat, 
and  led  the  Wizard  straight  to  the  spot  where  it  had 

191 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


covered  the  bag  with  leaves.  "According  to  my 
brains,"  said  the  creature,  "  your  black  bag  ought  to 
be  here." 

Then  it  scratched  at  the  leaves  and  uncovered  the 
bag,  which  the  Wizard  promptly  seized  with  a  cry  of 
delight.  Now  that  he  had  regained  his  Magic  Tools, 
he  felt  confident  he  could  rescue  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill. 

Eango  the  Gray  Ape  was  getting  impatient.  He 
now  approached  the  Wizard  and  said: 

"  Well,  what  do  you  intend  to  do  about  those  poor 
enchanted  monkeys'?" 

"I'll  make  a  bargain  with  you,  Rango,"  replied 
the  little  man.  "  If  you  will  let  me  take  a  dozen  of 
your  monkeys  to  the  Emerald  City,  and  keep  them 
until  after  Ozma's  birthday,  I'll  break  the  enchant- 
ment of  the  six  Giant  Soldiers  and  return  them  to 
their  natural  forms." 

But  the  Gray  Ape  shook  his  head. 

"  I  can't  do  it,"  he  declared.  "  The  monkeys  would 
be  very  lonesome  and  unhapp}^  in  the  Emerald  City 
and  your  people  would  tease  them  and  throw  stones 
at  them,  which  would  cause  them  to  fight  and  bite." 

"The  people  won't  see  them  till  Ozma's  birthday 
dinner,"  promised  the  Wizard.  "  I'll  make  them  very 
small  —  about  four  inches  high,  and  I'll  keep  them 

192 


Chapter  Sixteen 


in  a  pretty  cage  in  my  own  room,  where  they  will  be 
safe  from  harm.  I'll  feed  them  the  nicest  kind  of 
food,  train  them  to  do  some  clever  tricks,  and  on 
Ozma's  birthday  I'll  hide  the  twelve  little  monkeys 
inside  a  cake.  When  Ozma  cuts  the  cake  the  monkeys 
will  jump  out  on  to  the  table  and  do  their  tricks. 
The  next  day  I  will  bring  them  back  to  the  forest 
and  make  them  big  as  ever,  and  they'll  have  some 
exciting  stories  to  tell  their  friends.  What  do  you 
say,  Eango?" 

"I  say  no!"  answered  the  Gray  Ape.  "I  won't 
have  my  monkeys  enchanted  and  made  to  do  tricks 
for  the  Oz  people." 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  Wizard  calmly;  "  then  I'll  go. 
Come,  Dorothy,"  he  called  to  the  little  girl,  "  let's  start 
on  our  journey." 

"  Aren't  you  going  to  save  those  six  monkeys  who 
are  giant  soldiers?"  asked  Rango,  anxiously. 

"Why  should  I?"  returned  the  Wizard.  "If  you 
will  not  do  me  the  favor  I  ask,  you  cannot  expect 
me  to  favor  you." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  the  Gray  Ape.  "Fve 
changed  my  mind.  If  you  will  treat  the  twelve  mon- 
keys nicely  and  bring  them  safely  back  to  the  forest. 
I'll  let  you  take  them." 

193 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"Thank  you,"  replied  the  Wizard,  cheerfully. 
"  We'll  go  at  once  and  save  those  giant  soldiers." 

So  all  the  party  left  the  clearing  and  proceeded  to 
the  place  where  the  giants  still  stood  among  the  trees. 
Hundreds  of  monkeys,  apes,  baboons  and  orang- 
outangs had  gathered  round,  and  their  wild  chatter 
could  be  heard  a  mile  away.  But  the  Gray  Ape  soon 
hushed  the  babel  of  sounds,  and  the  Wizard  lost  no 
time  in  breaking  the  enchantments.  First  one  and 
then  another  giant  soldier  disappeared  and  became 
an  ordinary  monkey  again,  and  the  six  were  shortly 
returned  to  their  friends  in  their  proper  forms. 

This  action  made  the  Wizard  very  popular  with 
the  great  army  of  monkeys,  and  when  the  Gray  Ape 
announced  that  the  Wizard  wanted  to  borrow  twelve 
monkeys  to  take  to  the  Emerald  City  for  a  couple  of 
weeks,  and  asked  for  volunteers,  nearly  a  hundred 
offered  to  go,  so  great  was  their  confidence  in  the  little 
man  who  had  saved  their  comrades. 

The  Wizard  selected  a  dozen  that  seemed  intelli- 
gent and  good-tempered,  and  then  he  opened  his  black 
bag  and  took  out  a  queerly  shaped  dish  that  was  silver 
on  the  outside  and  gold  on  the  inside.  Into  this  dish 
he  poured  a  powder  and  set  fire  to  it.  It  made  a 
thick  smoke  that  quite  enveloped  the  twelve  mon- 

194 


Chapter  Sixteen 


keys,  as  well  as  the  form  of  the  Wizard,  but  when 
the  smoke  cleared  away  the  dish  had  been  changed 
to  a  golden  cage  with  silver  bars,  and  the  twelve 
monkeys  had  become  about  three  inches  high  and 


were  all  seated  comfortably  inside  the  cage. 

The  thousands  of  hairy  animals  who  had  witnessed 
this  act  of  magic  were  much  astonished  and  applauded 
the  Wizard  by  barking  aloud  and  shaking  the  limbs 

195 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


of  the  trees  in  which  they  sat.  Dorothy  said:  "  That 
was  a  fine  trick,  Wizard! "  and  the  Gray  Ape 
remarked:  "You  are  certainly  the  most  wonderful 
magician  in  all  the  Land  of  Oz! " 

"  Oh,  no,"  modestly  replied  the  little  man.  "  Glinda's 
magic  is  better  than  mine,  but  mine  seems  good 
enough  to  use  on  ordinary  occasions.  And  now,  Rango, 
we  will  say  good-bye,  and  I  promise  to  return  your 
monkeys  as  happy  and  safe  as  they  are  now." 

The  Wizard  rode  on  the  back  of  the  Hungry  Tiger 
and  carried  the  cage  of  monkeys  very  carefully,  so 
as  not  to  joggle  them.  Dorothy  rode  on  the  back  of 
the  Cowardly  Lion,  and  the  Glass  Cat  trotted,  as 
before,  to  show  them  the  way. 

Gugu  the  King  crouched  upon  a  log  and  watched 
them  go,  but  as  he  bade  them  farewell,  the  enormous 
leopard  said: 

"I  know  now  that  you  are  the  friends  of  beasts 
and  that  the  forest  people  may  trust  you.  Whenever 
the  Wizard  of  Oz  and  Princess  Dorothy  enter  the 
Forest  of  Gugu  hereafter,  they  will  be  as  welcome 
and  as  safe  with  us  as  ever  they  are  in  the  Emerald 
City." 


196 


A  Remarkable  Journey 


CHAPTER  17 

"You  see,"  explained  the 
Glass  Cat,  "that  Magic  Isle 
where  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill 
are  stuck  is  also  in  this  Gil- 
likin  country  —  over  at  the 
east  side  of  it,  and  it's  no 
farther  to  go  across-lots  from 
here  than  it  is  from  here  to 
the  Emerald  City.  So  we'll 
save  time  by  cutting  across 
the  mountains." 

"Are  you  sure  you  know 
the  way?  "  asked  Dorothy. 
197 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  I  know  all  the  Land  of  Oz  better  than  any  other 
living  creature  knows  it,"  asserted  the  Glass  Cat. 

"  Go  ahead,  then,  and  guide  us,"  said  the  Wizard. 
"  We've  left  our  poor  friends  helpless  too  long  already, 
and  the  sooner  we  rescue  them  the  happier  they'll  be." 

"Are  you  sure  you  can  get  'em  out  of  their  fix?" 
the  little  girl  inquired. 

"  I've  no  doubt  of  it,"  the  Wizard  assured  her.  "  But 
I  can't  tell  what  sort  of  magic  I  must  use  until  I  get 
to  the  place  and  discover  just  how  they  are  enchanted." 

"  I've  heard  of  that  Magic  Isle  where  the  Won- 
derful Flower  grows,"  remarked  the  Cowardly  Lion. 
"Long  ago,  when  I  used  to  live  in  the  forests,  the 
beasts  told  stories  about  the  Isle  and  how  the  Magic 
Flower  was  placed  there  to  entrap  strangers  —  men 
or  beasts." 

"  Is  the  Flower  really  wonderful  ? "  questioned 
Dorothy. 

"  I  have  heard  it  is  the  most  beautiful  plant  in  the 

world,"  answered  the  Lion.     "I  have  never  seen  it 

myself,  but  friendly  beasts  have  told  me  that  they 

have  stood  on  the  shore  of  the  river  and  looked  across 

at  the  plant  in  the  gold  flowerpot  and  seen  hundreds 

of  flowers,  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  blossom  upon  it  in 

quick  succession.     It  is  said  that  if  one  picks  the 

198 


Chapter  Seventeen 


flowers  while  they  are  in  bloom  they  will  remain 
perfect  for  a  long  time,  but  if  they  are  not  picked 
they  soon  disappear  and  are  replaced  by  other  flowers. 
That,  in  my  opinion,  makes  the  magic  plant  the  most 
wonderful  in  existence." 

"  But  these  are  only  stories,"  said  the  girl.  "  Has 
any  of  your  friends  ever  picked  a  flower  from  the 
wonderful  plant?" 

"  No,"  admitted  the  Cowardly  Lion,  "  for  if  any 
living  thing  ventures  upon  the  Magic  Isle,  where 
the  golden  flowerpot  stands,  that  man  or  beast  takes 
root  in  the  soil  and  cannot  get  away  again." 

"What  happens  to  them,  then?"  asked  Dorothy. 

"  They  grow  smaller,  hour  by  hour  and  day  by  day, 
and  finally  disappear  entirely." 

"  Then,"  said  the  girl  anxiously,  "  we  must  hurry 
up,  or  Cap'n  Bill  an'  Trot  will  get  too  small  to  be 
comf  table." 

They  were  proceeding  at  a  rapid  pace  during  this 
conversation,  for  the  Hungry  Tiger  and  the  Cow- 
ardly Lion  were  obliged  to  move  swiftly  in  order  to 
keep  pace  with  the  Glass  Cat.  After  leaving  the 
Forest  of  Gugu  they  crossed  a  mountain  range,  and 
then  a  broad  plain,  after  which  they  reached  another 

forest,  much  smaller  than  that  where  Gugu  ruled. 

199 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  The  Magic  Isle  is  in  this  forest,"  said  the  Glass 
Cat,  "  but  the  river  is  at  the  other  side  of  the  forest. 
There  is  no  path  through  the  trees,  but  if  we  keep 
going  east,  we  will  find  the  river,  and  then  it  will  be 
easy  to  find  the  Magic  Isle." 

"  Have  you  ever  traveled  this  way  before  ?  "  inquired 
the  Wizard. 

"  Not  exactly,"  admitted  the  Cat,  "  but  I  know  we 
shall  reach  the  river  if  we  go  east  through  the  forest." 

"  Lead  on,  then,"  said  the  Wizard. 

"  The  Glass  Cat  started  away,  and  at  first  it  was 
easy  to  pass  between  the  trees;  but  before  long  the 
underbrush  and  vines  became  thick  and  tangled,  and 
after  pushing  their  way  through  these  obstacles  for 
a  time,  our  travelers  came  to  a  place  where  even  the 
Glass  Cat  could  not  push  through. 

"  We'd  better  go  back  and  find  a  path,"  suggested 
the  Hunger  Tiger. 

"  I'm  s'prised  at  you,"  said  Dorothy,  eyeing  the 
Glass  Cat  severely. 

"  Fm  surprised,  myself,"  replied  the  Cat.  "  But 
it's  a  long  way  around  the  forest  to  where  the  river 
enters  it,  and  I  thought  we  could  save  time  by  going 
straight  through." 

"  No  one  can  blame  you,"  said  the  Wizard,  "  and  I 

200 


Chapter  Seventeen 


think,  instead  of  turning  back,  I  can  make  a  path 
that  will  allow  us  to  proceed." 

He  opened  his  black  bag  and  after  searching  among 
his  magic  tools  drew  out  a  small  axe,  made  of  some 
metal  so  highly  polished  that  it  glittered  brightly 
even  in  the  dark  forest.  The  Wizard  laid  the  little 
axe  on  the  ground  and  said  in  a  commanding  voice: 

"Chop,  Little  Axe,  chop  clean  and  true; 
A  path  for  our  feet  you  must  quickly  hew. 
Chop  till  this  tangle  of  jungle  is  passed; 
Chop  to  the  east.  Little  Axe  —  chop  fasti " 

Then  the  little  axe  began  to  move  and  flashed  its 
bright  blade  right  and  left,  clearing  a  way  through 
vine  and  brush  and  scattering  the  tangled  barrier  so 
quickly  that  the  Lion  and  the  Tiger,  carrying  Dorothy 
and  the  Wizard  and  the  cage  of  monkeys  on  their 
backs,  were  able  to  stride  through  the  forest  at  a  fasi 
walk.  The  brush  seemed  to  melt  away  before  them 
and  the  little  axe  chopped  so  fast  that  their  eyes  only 
saw  a  twinkling  of  the  blade.  Then,  suddenly,  the 
forest  was  open  again,  and  the  little  axe,  having 
obeyed  its  orders,  lay  still  upon  the  ground. 

The  Wizard  picked  up  the  magic  axe  and  after 

carefully  wiping  it  with  his  silk  handkerchief  put  it 

201 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


away  in  his  black  bag.    Then  they  went  on  and  in 
a  short  time  reached  the  river. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  the  Glass  Cat,  looking  up  and 
down  the  stream,  "I  think  we  are  below  the  Magic 
Isle ;  so  we  must  go  up  the  stream  until  we  come  to  it." 

So  up  the  stream  they  traveled,  walking  comfort- 
ably on  the  river  bank,  and  after  a  while  the  water 
broadened  and  a  sharp  bend  appeared  in  the  river, 
hiding  all  below  from  their  view.  They  walked 
briskly  along,  however,  and  had  nearly  reached  the 
bend  when  a  voice  cried  warningly:    "  Look  out! " 

The  travelers  halted  abruptly  and  the  Wizard  said: 
"Look  out  for  whatr' 

"You  almost  stepped  on  my  Diamond  Palace," 
replied  the  voice,  and  a  duck  with  gorgeously  colored 
feathers  appeared  before  them.  "  Beasts  and  men 
are  terribly  clumsy,"  continued  the  Duck  in  an  irri- 
tated tone,  "  and  you've  no  business  on  this  side  of 
the  river,  anyway.    What  are  you  doing  here?" 

"We've  come  to  rescue  some  friends  of  ours  who 
are  stuck  fast  on  the  Magic  Isle  in  this  river," 
explained  Dorothy. 

"I  know  'em,"  said  the  Duck.  "I've  been  to  see 
'em,  and  they're  stuck  fast,  all  right.  You  may  as 
well  go  back  home,  for  no  power  can  save  them." 

202 


Chapter  Seventeen 


"  This  is  the  Wonderful  Wizard  of  Oz,"  said  Doro- 
thy, pointing  to  the  little  man. 

"Well,  I'm  the  Lonesome  Duck,"  was  the  reply, 
as  the  fowl  strutted  up  and  down  to  show  its  feathers 
to  best  advantage.    "  I'^m  the  great  Forest  Magician, 


as  any  beast  can  tell  you,  but  even  I  have  no  power 
to  destroy  the  dreadful  charm  of  the  Magic  Isle." 

"Are  you  lonesome  because  you're  a  magician?" 
inquired  Dorothy. 

**No;  I'm  lonesome  because  I  have  no  family  and 

203 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


no  friends.  But  I  like  to  be  lonesome,  so  please  don't 
offer  to  be  friendly  with  me.  Go  away,  and  try  not 
to  step  on  my  Diamond  Palace." 

"Where  is  it?"  asked  the  girl. 

"  Behind  this  bush." 

Dorothy  hopped  off  the  lion's  back  and  ran  around 
the  bush  to  see  the  Diamond  Palace  of  the  Lonesome 
Duck,  although  the  gaudy  fowl  protested  in  a  series 
of  low  quacks.  The  girl  found,  indeed,  a  glistening 
dome  formed  of  clearest  diamonds,  neatly  cemented 
together,  with  a  doorway  at  the  side  just  big  enough 
to  admit  the  duck. 

"Where  did  you  find  so  many  diamonds?"  asked 
Dorothy,  wonderingly. 

"  I  know  a  place  in  the  mountains  where  they  are 
thick  as  pebbles,"  said  the  Lonesome  Duck,  "and  I 
brought  them  here  in  my  bill,  one  by  one  and  put  them 
in  the  river  and  let  the  water  run  over  them  until 
they  were  brightly  polished.  Then  I  built  this  palace, 
and  I'm  positive  it's  the  only  Diamond  Palace  in  all 
the  world." 

"It's  the  only  one  I  know  of,"  said  the  little  girl; 
"  but  if  you  live  in  it  all  alone,  I  don't  see  why  it's 
any  better  than  a  wooden  palace,  or  one  of  bricks 
or  cobble-stones." 

204 


Chapter  Seventeen 


"  You're  not  supposed  to  understand  that/'  retorted 
the  Lonesome  Duck.  "But  I  might  tell  you,  as  a 
matter  of  education,  that  a  home  of  any  sort  should 
be  beautiful  to  those  who  live  in  it,  and  should  not 


^5^^^?^=^ 


be  intended  to  please  strangers.  The  Diamond  Palace 
is  my  home,  and  I  like  it.  So  I  don't  care  a  quack 
whether  you  like  it  or  not." 

"Oh,  but  I  do!"  exclaimed  Dorothy.    "It's  lovely 
on  the  outside,  but  — "    Then  she  stopped  speaking, 

205 


V 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


for  the  Lonesome  Duck  had  entered  his  palace  through 
the  little  door  without  even  saying  good-bye.  So 
Dorothy  returned  to  her  friends  and  they  resumed 
their  journey. 

"  Do  you  think,  Wizard,  the  Duck  was  right  in  say- 
ing no  magic  can  rescue  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill?  "  asked 
the  girl  in  a  worried  tone  of  voice. 

"No,  I  don't  think  the  Lonesome  Duck  was  right 
in  saying  that,"  answered  the  Wizard,  gravely,  "  but 
it  is  possible  that  their  enchantment  will  be  harder 
to  overcome  than  I  expected.  I'll  do  my  best,  of 
course,  and  no  one  can  do  more  than  his  best." 

That  didn't  entirely  relieve  Dorothy's  anxiety,  but 
she  said  nothing  more,  and  soon,  on  turning  the  bend 
in  the  river,  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Magic  Isle. 

"There  they  are!"  exclaimed  Dorothy  eagerly. 

"Yes,  I  see  them,"  replied  the  Wizard,  nodding. 
"  They  are  sitting  on  two  big  toadstools." 

"That's  queer,"  remarked  the  Glass  Cat.  "There 
were  no  toadstools  there  when  I  left  them." 

"  What  a  lovely  flower! "  cried  Dorothy  in  rapture, 
as  her  gaze  fell  on  the  Magic  Plant. 

"Never  mind  the  Flower,  just  now,"  advised  the 

Wizard.    "  The  most  important  thing  is  to  rescue  our 

friends." 

206 


Chapter  Seventeen 


By  this  time  they  had  arrived  at  a  place  just  oppo- 
site the  Magic  Isle,  and  now  both  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill 
saw  the  arrival  of  their  friends  and  called  to  them 
for  help. 

"How  are  you?"  shouted  the  Wizard,  putting  his 


hands  to  his  mouth  so  they  could  hear  him  better 
across  the  water. 

"  We're  in  hard  luck,"  shouted  Cap'n  Bill,  in  reply. 
"  We're  anchored  here  and  can't  move  till  you  find  a 
way  to  cut  the  hawser." 

207 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"What  does  he  mean  by  that?"  asked  Dorothy. 

"  We  can't  move  our  feet  a  bit! "  called  Trot,  speak- 
ing as  loud  as  she  could. 

"  Why  not?  "  inquired  Dorothy. 

"  They've  got  roots  on  'em,"  explained  Trot. 

It  was  hard  to  talk  from  so  great  a  distance,  so  the 
Wizard  said  to  the  Glass  Cat: 

"  Go  to  the  island  and  tell  our  friends  to  be  patient, 
for  we  have  come  to  save  them.  It  may  take  a  little 
time  to  release  them,  for  the  Magic  of  the  Isle  is  new 
to  me  and  I  shall  have  to  experiment.  But  tell  them 
I'll  hurry  as  fast  as  I  can." 

So  the  Glass  Cat  walked  across  the  river  under  the 
water  to  tell  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  not  to  worry,  and 
the  Wizard  at  once  opened  his  black  bag  and  began 
to  make  his  preparations. 


208 


The  Magic  of  the  Wizard 


^, 


LvJ 


m 


^^^  ^Sv 


N> 


CHAPTER  18 

He  first  set  up  a  small  silver 
tripod  and  placed  a  gold  basin 
at  the  top  of  it.  Into  this 
basin  he  put  two  powders  — 
a  pink  one  and  a  sky-blue  one 
—  and  poured  over  them  a 
3^ellow  liquid  from  a  crystal 
vial.  Then  he  mumbled  some 
magic  words,  and  the  powders 
began  to  sizzle  and  burn  and 
send  out  a  cloud  of  violet 
smoke  that  floated  across  the 
river  and   completely   envel- 

209 


IT 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


oped  both  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill,  as  well  as  the  toad- 
stools on  which  they  sat,  and  even  the  Magic  Plant 
in  the  gold  flowerpot.  Then,  after  the  smoke  had 
disappeared  into  air,  the  Wizard  called  out  to  the 
prisoners: 

"Are  you  free?" 

Both  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  tried  to  move  their  feet 
and  failed. 

"No I"  they  shouted  in  answer. 

The  Wizard  rubbed  his  bald  head  thoughtfully  and 
then  took  some  other  magic  tools  from  the  bag. 

First  he  placed  a  little  black  ball  in  a  silver  pistol 
and  shot  it  toward  the  Magic  Isle.  The  ball  exploded 
just  over  the  head  of  Trot  and  scattered  a  thousand 
sparks  over  the  little  girl. 

"  Oh  I "  said  the  Wizard,  "  I  guess  that  will  set  her 
free." 

But  Troths  feet  were  still  rooted  in  the  ground  of 
the  Magic  Isle,  and  the  disappointed  Wizard  had  to 
try  something  else. 

For  almost  an  hour  he  worked  hard,  using  almost 
every  magic  tool  in  his  black  bag,  and  still  Cap'n  Bill 
and  Trot  were  not  rescued. 

"Dear  me!"  exclaimed  Dorothy,  "Tm  Afraid  we'll 
have  to  go  to  Glinda,  after  all." 

210 


Chapter  Eighteen 


That  made  the  little  Wizard  blush,  for  it  shamed 
him  to  think  that  his  magic  was  not  equal  to  that  of 
the  Magic  Isle. 

"  I  won't  give  up  yet,  Dorothy,"  he  said,  "  for  I  know 
a  lot  of  wizardry  that  I  haven't  yet  tried.  I  don't 
know  what  magician  enchanted  this  little  island,  or 
what  his  powers  were,  but  I  do  know  that  I  can  break 
any  enchantment  known  to  the  ordinary  witches  and 
magicians  that  used  to  inhabit  the  Land  of  Oz.  It's 
like  unlocking  a  door;  all  you  need  is  to  find  the  right 
key." 

"  But  'spose  you  haven't  the  right  key  with  you," 
suggested  Dorothy;  "  what  then'? " 

"Then  we'll  have  to  make  the  key,"  he  answered. 

The  Glass  Cat  now  came  back  to  their  side  of  the 
river,  walking  under  the  water,  and  said  to  the  Wiz- 
ard: "They're  getting  frightened  over  there  on  the 
island  because  they're  both  growing  smaller  every 
minute.  Just  now,  when  I  left  them,  both  Trot 
and  Cap'n  Bill  were  only  about  half  their  natural 
sizes." 

"  I  think,"  said  the  Wizard  reflectively,  "  that  I'd 

better  go  to  the  shore  of  the  island,  where  I  can  talk 

to  them  and  work  to  better  advantage.    How  did  Trot 

and  Cap'n  Bill  get  to  the  island?  " 

211 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  On  a  raft,"  answered  the  Glass  Cat.  "  It's  over 
there  now  on  the  beach." 

"I  suppose  you're  not  strong  enough  to  bring  the 
raft  to  this  side,  are  you?  " 

"No;  I  couldn't  move  it  an  inch,"  said  the  Cat. 

"I'll  try  to  get  it  for  you,','  volunteered  the  Cow- 
ardly Lion.  "  I'm  dreadfully  scared  for  fear  the  Magic 
Isle  will  capture  me,  too;  but  I'll  try  to  get  the  raft 
and  bring  it  to  this  side  for  you." 

"  Thank  you,  my  friend,"  said  the  Wizard. 

So  the  Lion  plunged  into  the  river  and  swam  with 
powerful  strokes  across  to  where  the  raft  was  beached 
upon  the  island.  Placing  one  paw  on  the  raft,  he 
turned  and  struck  out  with  his  other  three  legs  and  so 
strong  was  the  great  beast  that  he  managed  to  drag 
the  raft  from  oif  the  beach  and  propel  it  slowly  to 
where  the  Wizard  stood  on  the  river  bank. 

"  Good! "  exclaimed  the  little  man,  well  pleased. 

"  May  I  go  across  with  you?  "  asked  Dorothy. 

The  Wizard  hesitated. 

"If  you'll  take  care  not  to  leave  the  raft  or  step 
foot  on  the  island,  you'll  be  quite  safe,"  he  decided. 
So  the  Wizard  told  the  Hungry  Tiger  and  the  Cow- 
ardly Lion  to  guard  the  cage  of  monkeys  until  he 

returned,  and  then  he  and  Dorothy  got  upon  the  raft. 

212 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


The  paddle  which  Cap'n  Bill  had  made  was  still  there 
so  the  little  Wizard  paddled  the  clumsy  raft  across 
the  water  and  ran  it  upon  the  beach  of  the  Magic  Isle 
as  close  to  the  place  where  Cap'n  Bill  and  Trot  were 
rooted  as  he  could. 

Dorothy  was  shocked  to  see  how  small  the  pris- 
oners had  become,  and  Trot  said  to  her  friends:  "  If 
you  can't  save  us  soon,  there'll  be  nothing  left  of  us." 

"  Be  patient,  my  dear,"  counselled  the  Wizard,  and 
took  the  little  axe  from  his  black  bag. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that?  "  asked  Cap'n 
Bill. 

"  It's  a  magic  axe,"  replied  the  Wizard,  "  and  when 
I  tell  it  to  chop,  it  wdll  chop  those  roots  from  your  feet 
and  you  can  run  to  the  raft  before  they  grow  again." 

"Don't!"  shouted  the  sailor  in  alarm.  "Don't  do 
it!  Those  roots  are  all  flesh  roots,  and  our  bodies  are 
feeding  'em  while  they're  growing  into  the  ground." 

"To  cut  off  the  roots,"  said  Trot,  "would  be  like 
cutting  off  our  fingers  and  toes." 

The  Wizard  put  the  little  axe  back  in  the  black  bag 
and  took  out  a  pair  of  silver  pincers. 

"Grow  —  grow  —  grow!"  he  said  to  the  pincers, 
and  at  once  they  grew  and  extended  until  they  reached 
from  the  raft  to  the  prisoners. 

214 


Chapter  Eighteen 


"  What  are  you  going  to  do  now?  "  demanded  Cap'n 
Bill,  fearfully  eyeing  the  pincers. 

"  This  magic  tool  will  pull  you  up,  roots  and  all,  and 
land  you  on  this  raft,"  declared  the  Wizard. 

"Don't  do  it!"  pleaded  the  sailor,  with  a  shudder. 
*•  It  would  hurt  us  awfully." 


"  It  would  be  just  like  pulling  teeth  to  pull  us  up 
by  the  roots,"  explained  Trot. 

"  Grow  small  1 "  said  the  Wizard  to  the  pincers,  and 
at  once  they  became  small  and  he  threw  them  into 
the  black  bag. 

215 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"I  guess,  friends,  it's  all  up  with  us,  this  time," 
remarked  Cap'n  Bill,  with  a  dismal  sigh. 

"Please  tell  Ozma,  Dorothy,"  said  Trot,  "that  we 
got  into  trouble  trying  to  get  her  a  nice  birthday 
present.  Then  she'll  forgive  us.  The  Magic  Flower 
is  lovely  and  wonderful,  but  it's  just  a  lure  to  catch 
folks  on  this  dreadful  island  and  then  destroy  them. 
You'll  have  a  nice  birthday  party,  without  us,  I'm 
sure;  and  I  hope,  Dorothy,  that  none  of  you  in  the 
Emerald  City  will  forget  me  —  or  dear  ol'  Cap'n  Bill." 


216 


Dorothy  and  the  Bumble  Bees 


^■^\V 


it 


%^^ 


^-^ 


<IN 


y 


CHAPTER  19 

Dorothy  was  greatly  dis- 
tressed and  had  hard  work  to 
keep  the  tears  from  her  eyes. 

"  Is  that  all  you  can  do, 
Wizard?"  she  asked  the  little 
man. 

"  It's  all  I  can  think  of  just 
now,"  he  replied  sadly.  "  But 
I  intend  to  keep  on  thinking 
as  long  —  as  long  —  well,  as 
long  as  thinking  will  do  any 
good." 

They  were  all  silent  for  a 
217 


I 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


time,  Dorothy  and  the  Wizard  sitting  thoughtfully 
on  the  raft,  and  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  sitting  thought- 
fully on  the  toadstools  and  growing  gradually  smaller 
and  smaller  in  size. 

Suddenly  Dorothy  said:  "Wizard,  I've  thought  of 
something! '' 

"What  have  you  thought  of?"  he  asked,  looking 
at  the  little  girl  with  interest. 

"  Can  you  remember  the  Magic  Word  that  trans- 
forms people?"  she  asked. 

"  Of  course,"  said  he. 

"  Then  you  can  transform  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  into 
birds  or  Bumblebees,  and  they  can  fly  away  to  the 
other  shore.  When  they're  there,  you  can  transform 
'em  into  their  reg'lar  shapes  again!" 

"Can  you  do  that.  Wizard?"  asked  Cap'n  Bill, 
eagerly. 

"  I  think  so." 

"Roots  an'  all?"  inquired  Trot. 

"  Why,  the  roots  are  now  a  part  of  you,  and  if  you 
were  transformed  to  a  bumble-bee  the  whole  of  you 
would  be  transformed,  of  course,  and  you'd  be  free 
of  this  awful  island." 

"All  right;  do  it!"  cried  the  sailor  man. 

So  the  Wizard  said  slowly  and  distinctly: 

218 


Chapter  Nineteen 


"I  want  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  to  become  bumble- 
bees —  Pyrzqxgl!" 

Fortunately,  he  pronounced  the  Magic  Word  in  the 
right  way,  and  instantly  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  vanished 
from  view,  and  up  from  the  places  where  they  had 
been  flew  two  bumble-bees. 

"Hooray!"  shouted  Dorothy  in  delight;  "they're 
saved I " 

"I  guess  they  are,"  agreed  the  Wizard,  equally 
delighted. 

The  bees  hovered  over  the  raft  an  instant  and  then 
flew  across  the  river  to  where  the  Lion  and  the  Tiger 
waited.  The  Wizard  picked  up  the  paddle  and  pad- 
dled the  raft  across  as  fast  as  he  could.  When  it 
reached  the  river  bank,  both  Dorothy  and  the  Wizard 
leaped  ashore  and  the  little  man  asked  excitedly: 

"Where  are  the  bees?" 

"  The  bees?  "  inquired  the  Lion,  who  was  half  asleep 
and  did  not  know  what  had  happened  on  the  Magic 
Isle. 

"  Yes;  there  were  two  of  them." 

"Two  bees?"  said  the  Hungry  Tiger,  yawning. 
"  Why,  I  ate  one  of  them  and  the  Cowardly  Lion  ate 
the  other." 

"  Goodness  gracious! "  cried  Dorothy  horrified. 

219 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  It  was  little  enough  for  our  lunch,"  remarked  the 
Tiger,  "  but  the  bees,  were  the  only  things  we  could 
find." 

"How  dreadful!"  wailed  Dorothy,  wringing  her 
hands  in  despair.  "  YouVe  eaten  Trot  and  Cap'n 
Bill." 

But  just  then  she  heard  a  buzzing  overhead  and 
two  bees  alighted  on  her  shoulder. 

"  Here  we  are,"  said  a  small  voice  in  her  ear.  "  I'm 
Trot,  Dorothy." 

"  And  Pm  Cap'n  Bill,"  said  the  other  bee. 

Dorothy  almost  fainted,  with  relief,  and  the  Wizard, 
who  was  close  by  and  had  heard  the  tiny  voices,  gave 
a  laugh  and  said: 

"  You  are  not  the  only  two  bees  in  the  forest,  it 
seems,  but  I  advise  you  to  keep  away  from  the  Lion 
and  the  Tiger  until  you  regain  your  proper  forms." 

"  Do  it  now,  Wizard!  "  advised  Dorothy.  "  They're 
so  small  that  you  never  can  tell  what  might  happen 
to  'em." 

So  the  Wizard  gave  the  command  and  pronounced 
the  Magic  Word,  and  in  the  instant  Trot  and  Cap'n 
Bill  stood  beside  them  as  natural  as  before  they  had 
met  their  fearful  adventure.    For  they  were  no  longer 

small  in  size,  because  the  Wizard  had  transformed 

220 


Chapter  Nineteen 


them  from  bumble-bees  into  the  shapes  and  sizes  that 

nature  had  formerly  given  them.    The  ugly  roots  on 

their  feet  had  disappeared  with  the  transformation. 

While  Dorothy  was  hugging  Trot,  and  Trot  was 


softly  crying  because  she  was  so  happy,  the  Wizard 

shook  hands  with  Cap'n  Bill  and  congratulated  him 

on  his  escape.    The  old  sailor-man  was  so  pleased  that 

he  also  shook  the  Lion's  paw  and  took  off  his  hat  and 

bowed  politely  to  the  cage  of  monkeys. 

221 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


Then  Cap'n  Bill  did  a  curious  thing.  He  went  to 
a  big  tree  and,  taking  out  his  knife,  cut  away  a  big, 
broad  piece  of  thick  bark.  Then  he  sat  down  on  the 
ground  and  after  taking  a  roll  of  stout  cord  from  his 
pocket  —  which  seemed  to  be  full  of  all  sorts  of  things 
—  he  proceeded  to  bind  the  flat  piece  of  bark  to  the 
bottom  of  his  good  foot,  over  the  leather  sole. 

"  What's  that  for?  "  inquired  the  Wizard. 

**I  hate  to  be  stumped,"  replied  the  sailor-man; 
"so  Fm  goin'  back  to  that  island." 

"And  get  enchanted  again?"  exclaimed  Trot,  with 
evident  disapproval. 

"  No ;  this  time  I'll  dodge  the  magic  of  the  island. 
I  noticed  that  my  wooden  leg  didn't  get  stuck,  or  take 
root,  an'  neither  did  the  glass  feet  of  the  Glass  Cat. 
It's  only  a  thing  that's  made  of  meat  —  like  man  an' 
beasts  —  that  the  magic  can  hold  an'  root  to  the 
ground.  Our  shoes  are  leather,  an'  leather  comes  from 
a  beast's  hide.  Our  stockin's  are  wool,  an'  wool  comes 
from  a  sheep's  back.  So,  vv^hen  we  walked  on  the 
Magic  Isle,  our  feet  took  root  there  an'  held  us  fast. 
But  not  my  wooden  leg.  So  now  I'll  put  a  wooden 
bottom  on  my  other  foot  an'  the  magic  can't  stop  me." 

"But  why  do  you  wish  to  go  back  to  the  island?" 
asked  Dorothy. 

222 


Chapter  Nineteen 


"Didn't  you  see  the  Magic  Flower  in  the  gold 
flower-pot?"  returned  Cap'n  Bill. 

"  Of  course  I  saw  it,  and  it's  lovely  and  wonderful." 

"Well,  Trot  an'  I  set  out  to  get  that  magic  plant 
for  a  present  to  Ozma  on  her  birthday,  and  I  mean 
to  get  it  an'  take  it  back  with  us  to  the  Emerald  City." 

"That  would  be  fine,"  cried  Trot  eagerly,  "if  you 
think  you  can  do  it,  and  it  would  be  safe  to  try! " 

"  I'm  pretty  sure  it  is  safe,  the  way  I've  fixed  my 
foot,"  said  the  sailor,  "  an'  if  I  should  happen  to  get 
caught,  I  s'pose  the  Wizard  could  save  me  again." 

"  I  suppose  I  could,"  agreed  the  Wizard.  "  Anyhow, 
if  you  wish  to  try  it,  Cap'n  Bill,  go  ahead  and  we'll 
stand  by  and  watch  what  happens." 

So  the  sailor-man  got  upon  the  raft  again  and  pad- 
dled over  to  the  Magic  Isle,  landing  as  close  to  the 
golden  flower-pot  as  he  could.  They  watched  him 
walk  across  the  land,  put  both  arms  around  the  flower- 
pot and  lift  it  easily  from  its  place.  Then  he  carried 
it  to  the  raft  and  set  it  down  very  gently.  The  removal 
did  not  seem  to  affect  the  Magic  Flower  in  any  way, 
for  it  was  growing  daffodils  when  Cap'n  Bill  picked  it 
up  and  on  the  way  to  the  raft  it  grew  tulips  and  gladi- 
oli. During  the  time  the  sailor  was  paddling  across 
the  river  to  where  his  friends  awaited  him,  seven  dlf- 

223 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


ferent  varieties  of  flowers  bloomed  in  succession  on 
the  plant. 

"  I  guess  the  Magician  who  put  it  on  the  island  never 
thought  that  any  one  would  carry  it  off,"  said  Dorothy. 

"He  figured  that  only  men  would  want  the  plant, 
and  any  man  who  went  upon  the  island  to  get  it  would 
be  caught  by  the  enchantment,"  added  the  Wizard. 

"  After  this,"  remarked  Trot,  "  no  one  will  care  to 
go  on  the  island,  so  it  won't  be  a  trap  any  more." 

"There,"  exclaimed  Cap'n  Bill,  setting  down  the 
Magic  Plant  in  triumph  upon  the  river  bank,  "if 
Ozma  gets  a  better  birthday  present  than  that,  I'd 
like  to  know  what  it  can  be!" 

"  It'll  s'prise  her,  all  right,"  declared  Dorothy,  stand- 
ing in  awed  wonder  before  the  gorgeous  blossoms  and 
watching  them  change  from  yellow  roses  to  violets. 

"It'll  s'prise  ev'rybody  in  the  Em'rald  City,"  Trot 
asserted  in  glee,  "and  it'll  be  Ozma's  present  from 
Cap'n  Bill  and  me." 

"  I  think  I  ought  to  have  a  little  credit,"  objected 
the  Glass  Cat.  "  I  discovered  the  thing,  and  led  you 
to  it,  and  brought  the  Wizard  here  to  save  you  when 
you  got  caught." 

"  That's  true,"  admitted  Trot,  "  and  I'll  tell  Ozma 
the  whole  story,  so  she'll  know  how  good  you've  been." 

224 


The  Monkeys  Have  Trouble 


-^^^ 


CHAPTER  20 


"  Now,"  said  the  Wizard,  "  we 
must  start  for  home.  But  how 
are  we  going  to  carry  that  big 
gold  flowerpot?  Cap'n  Bill 
can't  lug  it  all  the  way,  that's 
certain." 

"  No,"  acknowledged  the 
sailor-man;  "  it's  pretty  heavy. 
I  could  carry  it  for  a  little 
while,  but  I'd  have  to  stop  to 
rest  every  few  minutes." 

"  Couldn't  we  put  it  on  your 
back?"  Dorothy  asked  the 
226 


Chapter  Twenty 


Cowardly  Lion,  with  a  good-natured  yawn, 

"  I  don't  object  to  carrying  it,  if  you  can  fasten  it 
on,"  answered  the  Lion. 

"  K  it  falls  ofe,"  said  Trot,  "  it  might  get  smashed 
an'  be  mined." 

"rU  fix  it,"  promised  Cap'n  Bill.  "Til  make  a 
flat  board  out  of  one  of  these  tree  trunks,  an'  tie  the 
board  on  the  lion's  back,  an'  set  the  flowerpot  on  the 
board."  He  set  to  work  at  once  to  do  this,  but  as  he 
only  had  his  big  knife  for  a  tool  his  progress  was  slow. 

So  the  Wizard  took  from  his  black  bag  a  tiny  saw 
that  shone  like  silver  and  said  to  it: 

"Saw,  little  Saw,  come  show  your  power; 
Make  us  a  board  for  the  Magic  Flower." 

And  at  once  the  Little  Saw  began  to  move  and  it 
sawed  the  log  so  fast  that  those  who  watched  it  work 
were  astonished.  It  seemed  to  understand,  too,  just 
what  the  board  was  to  be  used  for,  for  when  it  was 
completed  it  was  flat  on  top  and  hollowed  beneath  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  exactly  fitted  the  Lion's  back. 

"That  beats  whittlin'I"  exclaimed  Cap'n  Bill, 
admiringly.  "  You  don't  happen  to  have  two  o'  them 
saws;  do  you.  Wizard *?" 

"No,"  replied  the  Wizard,  wiping  the  Magic  Saw 

227 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


carefully  with  his  silk  handkerchief  and  putting  it 
back  in  the  black  bag.  "  It's  the  only  saw  of  its  kind 
in  the  world;  and  if  there  were  more  like  it,  it  wouldn't 
be  so  wonderful." 

They  now  tied  the  board  on  the  Lion's  back,  flat 
side  up,  and  Cap'n  Bill  carefully  placed  the  Magic 
Flower  on  the  board. 

"  For  fear  o'  accidents,"  he  said,  "  I'll  walk  beside 
the  lion  and  hold  onto  the  flowerpot." 

Trot  and  Dorothy  could  both  ride  on  the  back  of 
the  Hungry  Tiger,  and  between  them  they  carried 
the  cage  of  monkeys.  But  this  arrangement  left  the 
Wizard,  as  well  as  the  sailor,  to  make  the  journey  on 
foot,  and  so  the  procession  moved  slowly  and  the 
Glass  Cat  grumbled  because  it  would  take  so  long  to 
get  to  the  Emerald  City. 

The  Cat  was  sour-tempered  and  grumpy,  at  first, 
but  before  they  had  journeyed  far,  the  crystal  creature 
had  discovered  a  fine  amusement.  The  long  tails  of 
the  monke^^s  were  constantly  sticking  through  the  bars 
of  their  cage,  and  when  they  did,  the  Glass  Cat  would 
slyly  seize  the  tails  in  her  paws  and  puli  them.  That 
made  the  monkeys  scream,  and  their  screams  pleased 
the  Glass  Cat  immensely.  Trot  and  Dorothy  tried  to 
stop  this  naughty  amusement,  but  when  they  were 

228 


Chapter  Twenty 


not  looking  the  Cat  would  pull  the  tails  again,  and 
the  creature  was  so  sly  and  quick  that  the  monkeys 
could  seldom  escape.  They  scolded  the  Cat  angrily 
and  shook  the  bars  of  their  cage,  but  they  could  not 


get  out  and  the  Cat  only  laughed  at  them. 

After  the  party  had  left  the  forest  and  were  on  the 
plains  of  the  Mimchkin  Country,  it  grew  dark,  and 
they  were  obliged  to  make  camp  for  the  night,  choos- 
ing a  pretty  place  beside  a  brook.    By  means  of  his 

229 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


magic  the  Wizard  created  three  tents,  pitched  in  a  row 
on  the  grass  and  nicely  fitted  with  all  that  was  needful 
for  the  comfort  of  his  comrades.  The  middle  tent  was 
for  Dorothy  and  Trot,  and  had  in  it  two  cosy  white 
beds  and  two  chairs.  Another  tent,  also  with  beds 
and  chairs,  was  for  the  Wizard  and  Cap'n  Bill,  while 
the  third  tent  was  for  the  Hungry  Tiger,  the  Cowardly 
Lion,  the  cage  of  Monkeys  and  the  Glass  Cat.  Outside 
the  tents  the  Wizard  made  a  fire  and  placed  over  it 
a  magic  kettle  from  which  he  presently  drew  all  sorts 
of  nice  things  for  their  supper,  smoking  hot. 

After  they  had  eaten  and  talked  together  for  a 
while  under  the  twinkling  stars,  they  all  went  to  bed 
and  the  people  were  soon  asleep.  The  Lion  and  the 
Tiger  had  almost  fallen  asleep,  too,  when  they  were 
roused  by  the  screams  of  the  monkeys,  for  the  Glass 
Cat  was  pulling  their  tails  again.  Annoyed  by  the 
uproar,  the  Hungry  Tiger  cried:  "  Stop  that  racket  I  " 
and  getting  sight  of  the  Glass  Cat,  he  raised  his  big 
paw  and  struck  at  the  creature.  The  cat  was  quick 
enough  to  dodge  the  blow,  but  the  claws  of  the  Hun- 
gry Tiger  scraped  the  monkeys'  cage  and  bent  two 
of  the  bars. 

Then  the  Tiger  lay  down  again  to  sleep,  but  the 
monkeys  soon  discovered  that  the  bending  of  the  bars 

230 


Chapter  Twenty 


would  allow  them  to  squeeze  through.  They  did  not 
leave  the  cage,  however,  but  after  whispering 
together  they  let  their  tails  stick  out  and  all  remained 
quiet.  Presently  the  Glass  Cat  stole  near  the  cage 
again  and  gave  a  yank  to  one  of  the  tails.  Instantly 
the  monkeys  leaped  through  the  bars,  one  after 
another,  and  although  they  were  so  small  the  entire 
dozen  of  them  surrounded  the  Glass  Cat  and  clung  to 


her  claws  and  tail  and  ears  and  made  her  a  prisoner. 
Then  they  forced  her  out  of  the  tent  and  down  to  the 
banks  of  the  stream.  The  monkeys  had  noticed  that 
these  banks  were  covered  with  thick,  slim}^  mud  of  a 
dark  blue  color,  and  when  they  had  taken  the  Cat  to 
the  stream,  they  smeared  this  mud  all  over  the  glass 
body  of  the  cat,  filling  the  creature's  ears  and  eyes 

with  it,  so  that  she  could  neither  see  nor  hear.    She 

231 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


was  no  longer  transparent  and  so  thick  was  the  mud 
upon  her  that  no  one  could  see  her  pink  brains  or 
her  ruby  heart. 

In  this  condition  they  led  the  pussy  back  to  the 
tent  and  then  got  inside  their  cage  again. 

By  morning  the  mud  had  dried  hard  on  the  Glass 
Cat  and  it  was  a  dull  blue  color  throughout.  Dorothy 
and  Trot  were  horrified,  but  the  Wizard  shook  his 
head  and  said  it  served  the  Glass  Cat  right  for  teasing 
the  monkeys. 

Cap'n  Bill,  with  his  strong  hands,  soon  bent  the 
golden  wires  of  the  monkeys'  cage  into  the  proper 
position  and  then  he  asked  the  Wizard  if  he  should 
wash  the  Glass  Cat  in  the  water  of  the  brook. 

"Not  just  yet,"  answered  the  Wizard.  "The  Cat 
deserves  to  be  punished,  so  I  think  Til  leave  that  blue 
mud  —  which  is  as  bad  as  paint  —  upon  her  body  until 
she  gets  to  the  Emerald  City.  The  silly  creature  is  so 
vain  that  she  will  be  greatly  shamed  when  the  Oz 
people  see  her  in  this  condition,  and  perhaps  she'll 
take  the  lesson  to  heart  and  leave  the  monkeys  alone 
hereafter." 

However,  the  Glass  Cat  could  not  see  or  hear,  and  to 
avoid  carrying  her  on  the  journey  the  Wizard  picked 
the  mud  out  of  her  eyes  and  ears  and  Dorothy  damp- 

232 


Chapter  Twenty 


ened  her  handkerchief  and  washed  both  the  eyes  and 
ears  clean. 

As  soon  as  she  could  speak  the  Glass  Cat  asked 
indignantly:  "Aren't  you  going  to  punish  those 
monkeys  for  playing  such  a  trick  on  me?  " 

"  No,"  answered  the  Wizard.  "  You  played  a  trick 
on  them  by  pulling  their  tails,  so  this  is  only  tit-for- 
tat,  and  Pm  glad  the  monkeys  had  their  revenge." 

He  wouldn't  allow  the  Glass  Cat  to  go  near  the 
water,  to  wash  herself,  but  made  her  follow  them 
when  they  resumed  their  journey  toward  the  Emerald 
City. 

"  This  is  only  part  of  your  punishment,"  said  the 
Wizard,  severely.  "Ozma  will  laugh  at  you,  when 
we  get  to  her  palace,  and  so  will  the  Scarecrow,  and  the 
Tin  Woodman,  and  Tik-Tok,  and  the  Shaggy  Man, 
and  Button-Bright,  and  the  Patchwork  Girl,  and  —  " 

"  And  the  Pink  Kitten,"  added  Dorothy. 

That  suggestion  hurt  the  Glass  Cat  more  than  any- 
thing else.  The  Pink  Kitten  always  quarreled  with 
the  Glass  Cat  and  insisted  that  flesh  was  superior  to 
glass,  while  the  Glass  Cat  would  jeer  at  the  Pink 
Kitten,  because  it  had  no  pink  brains.  But  the  pink 
brains  were  all  daubed  with  blue  mud,  just  now, 
and  if  the  Pink  Kitten  should  see  the  Glass  Cat  in 

233 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


such  a  condition,  it  would  be  dreadfully  humiliating. 

For  several  hours  the  Glass  Cat  walked  along  very 
meekl}^,  but  toward  noon  it  seized  an  opportunity 
when  no  one  was  looking  and  darted  away  through 
the  long  grass.  It  remembered  that  there  was  a  tiny 
lake  of  pure  water  near  by,  and  to  this  lake  the  Cat 
sped  as  fast  as  it  could  go. 

The  others  never  missed  her  until  they  stopped  for 
lunch,  and  then  it  was  too  late  to  hunt  for  her. 

"I  s'pect  she's  gone  somewhere  to  clean  herself," 
said  Dorothy. 

"  Never  mind,"  replied  the  Wizard.  "  Perhaps  this 
glass  creature  has  been  punished  enough,  and  we 
must  not  forget  she  saved  both  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill." 

"  After  first  leading  'em  onto  an  enchanted  island," 
added  Dorothy.  "But  I  think,  as  you  do,  that  the 
Glass  Cat  is  punished  enough,  and  p'raps  she  won't 
try  to  pull  the  monkeys'  tails  again." 

The  Glass  Cat  did  not  rejoin  the  party  of  travelers. 
She  was  still  resentful,  and  they  moved  too  slowly  to 
suit  her,  besides.  When  they  arrived  at  the  Royal 
Palace,  one  of  the  first  things  they  saw  was  the  Glass 
Cat  curled  up  on  a  bench  as  bright  and  clean  and 
transparent  as  ever.  But  she  pretended  not  to  notice 
them,  and  they  passed  her  by  without  remark. 

234 


The  College  of  Athletic  Arts 


u_;/ 


Dorothy  and  her  friends  ar- 
rived at  the  Eoyal  Palace  at 
an  opportune  time,  for  Ozma 
was  holding  high  court  in  her 
Throne  Room,  where  Profes- 
sor H.  M.  Wogglebug,  T.E., 
was  appealing  to  her  to  pun- 
ish some  of  the  students  of  the 
Royal  Athletic  College,  of 
which  he  was  the  Principal. 

This  College  is  located  in 
the   Munchkin   Country,   but 

not   far   from   the   Emerald 
235 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


City.  To  enable  the  students  to  devote  their  entire 
time  to  athletic  exercises,  such  as  boating,  foot-ball, 
and  the  like,  Professor  Wogglebug  had  invented  an 
assortment  of  Tablets  of  Learning.  One  of  these 
tablets,  eaten  by  a  scholar  after  breakfast,  would 
instantly  enable  him  to  understand  arithmetic  or 
algebra  or  any  other  branch  of  mathematics.  Another 
tablet  eaten  after  lunch  gave  a  student  a  complete 
knowledge  of  geography.  Another  tablet  made  it 
possible  for  the  eater  to  spell  the  most  difficult  words, 
and  still  another  enabled  him  to  write  a  beautiful 
hand.  There  were  tablets  for  history,  mechanics,  home 
cooking  and  agriculture,  and  it  mattered  not  whether 
a  boy  or  a  girl  was  stupid  or  bright,  for  the  tablets 
taught  them  everything  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

This  method,  which  is  patented  in  the  Land  of  Oz 
by  Professor  Wogglebug,  saves  paper  and  books,  as 
well  as  the  tedious  hours  devoted  to  study  in  some  of 
our  less  favored  schools,  and  it  also  allows  the  stu- 
dents to  devote  all  their  time  to  racing,  base-ball,  ten- 
nis and  other  manly  and  womanly  sports,  which  are 
greatly  interfered  with  by  study  in  those  Temples 
of  Learning  where  Tablets  of  Learning  are  unknown. 

But  it  so  happened  that  Professor  Wogglebug  (who 
had  invented  so  much  that  he  had  acquired  the  habit) 

236 


Chapter  Twenty-One 


carelessly  invented  a  Square-Meal  Tablet,  which  was 
no  bigger  than  your  little  finger-nail  but  contained,  in 
condensed  form,  the  equal  of  a  bowl  of  soup,  a  portion 
of  fried  fish,  a  roast,  a  salad  and  a  dessert,  all  of  which 
gave  the  same  nourishment  as  a  square  meal. 

The  Professor  was  so  proud  of  these  Square-Meal 
Tablets  that  he  began  to  feed  them  to  the  students  at 
his  college,  instead  of  other  food,  but  the  boys  and 
girls  objected  because  they  wanted  food  that  they 
could  enjoy  the  taste  of.  It  was  no  fun  at  all  to 
swallow  a  tablet,  with  a  glass  of  water,  and  call  it  a 
dinner;  so  they  refused  to  eat  the  Square-Meal 
Tablets.  Professor  Wogglebug  insisted,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  Senior  Class  seized  the  learned 
Professor  one  day  and  threw  him  into  the  river  — 
clothes  and  all.  Everyone  knows  that  a  wogglebug 
cannot  swim,  and  so  the  inventor  of  the  wonderful 
Square-Meal  Tablets  lay  helpless  on  the  bottom  of 
the  river  for  three  days  before  a  fisherman  caught  one 
of  his  legs  on  a  fishhook  and  dragged  him  out  upon  the 
bank. 

The  learned  Professor  was  naturally  indignant  at 
such  treatment,  and  so  he  brought  the  entire  senior 
class  to  the  Emerald  City  and  appealed  to  Ozma  of  Oz 
to  punish  them  for  their  rebellion. 

237 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


I  do  not  suppose  the  girl  Ruler  was  very  severe  with 
the  rebellious  boys  and  girls,  because  she  had  herself 
refused  to  eat  the  Square-Meal  Tablets  in  place  of 
food,  but  while  she  was  listening  to  the  interesting 
case  in  her  Throne  Room,  Cap'n  Bill  managed  to 
carry  the  golden  flower-pot  containing  the  Magic 
Flower  up  to  Trot's  room  without  it  being  seen  by 
anyone  except  Jellia  Jamb,  Ozma's  chief  Maid  of 
Honor,  and  Jellia  promised  not  to  tell. 

Also  the  Wizard  was  able  to  carry  the  cage  of 
monkeys  up  to  one  of  the  top  towers  of  the  palace, 
where  he  had  a  room  of  his  own,  to  which  no  one  came 
unless  invited.  So  Trot  and  Dorothy  and  Cap'n  Bill 
and  the  Wizard  were  all  delighted  at  the  successful 
end  of  their  adventure.  The  Cowardly  Lion  and  the 
HungTy  Tiger  went  to  the  marble  stables  behind  the 
Royal  Palace,  where  they  lived  while  at  home,  and 
they  too  kept  the  secret,  even  refusing  to  tell  the 
Wooden  Sawhorse,  and  Hank  the  Mule,  and  the  Yel- 
low Hen,  and  the  Pink  Kitten  where  they  had  been. 

Trot  watered  the  Magic  Flower  every  day  and 
allowed  no  one  in  her  room  to  see  the  beautiful 
blossoms  except  her  friends,  Betsy  Bobbin  and 
Dorothy.  The  wonderful  plant  did  not  seem  to  lose 
any  of  its  magic  by  being  removed  from  its  island, 

238 


Chapter  Twenty^One 


and  Trot  was  sure  that  Ozma  would  prize  it  as  one  of 
her  most  delightful  treasures. 

Up  in  his  tower  the  little  Wizard  of  Oz  began 
training  his  twelve  tiny  monkeys,  and  the  little 
creatures  were  so  intelligent  that  they  learned  every 
trick  the  Wizard  tried  to  teach  them.  The  Wizard 
treated  them  with  great  kindness  and  gentleness  and 
gave  them  the  food  that  monkeys  love  best,  so  they 
promised  to  do  their  best  on  the  great  occasion  of 
Ozma's  birthday. 


239 


Ozma  s  Birthday  Party 


) 


;?. 


u_; 


!i^ 


'v< 


CHAPTER  22 

It  seems  odd  that  a  fairy 
should  have  a  birthday,  for 
fairies,  they  say,  were  born  at 
the  beginning  of  time  and  live 
forever.  Yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  would  be  a  shame  to 
deprive  a  fairy,  who  has  so 
many  other  good  things,  of 
the  delights  of  a  birthday.  So 
we  need  not  wonder  that  the 
fairies   keep   their  birthdays 

just  as  other  folks  do,  and 

240 


Chapter  Twenty --Two 


consider  them  occasions  for  feasting  and  rejoicing. 

Ozma,  the  beautiful  girl  Euler  of  the  Fairyland  of 
Oz,  was  a  real  fairy,  and  so  sweet  and  gentle  in  caring 
for  her  people  that  she  was  greatly  beloved  by  them 
all.  She  lived  in  the  most  magnificent  palace  in  the 
most  magnificent  city  in  the  world,  but  that  did  not 
prevent  her  from  being  the  friend  of  the  most  humble 
person  in  her  dominions.  She  would  mount  her 
wooden  Sawhorse,  and  ride  out  to  a  farm  house  and  sit 
in  the  kitchen  to  talk  with  the  good  wife  of  the  farmer 
while  she  did  her  family  baking;  or  she  would  play 
with  the  children  and  give  them  rides  on  her  famous 
wooden  steed;  or  she  would  stop  in  a  forest  to  speak  to 
a  charcoal  burner  and  ask  if  he  was  happy  or  desired 
anything  to  make  him  more  content;  or  she  would  teach 
young  girls  how  to  sew  and  plan  pretty  dresses,  or 
enter  the  shops  where  the  jewelers  and  craftsmen  were 
busy  and  watch  them  at  their  work,  giving  to  each  and 
all  a  cheering  word  or  sunny  smile. 

And  then  Ozma  would  sit  in  her  jeweled  throne,  with 
her  chosen  courtiers  all  about  her,  and  listen  patiently 
to  any  complaint  brought  to  her  by  her  subjects, 
striving  to  accord  equal  justice  to  all.  Knowing  she 
was  fair  in  her  decisions,  the  Oz  people  never 
murmured  at  her  judgments,  but  agreed,  if  Ozma 

241 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


decided  against  them,  she  was  right  and  they  wrong. 

When  Dorothy  and  Trot  and  Betsy  Bobbin  and  Ozma 
were  together,  one  would  think  they  were  all  about  of 
an  age,  and  the  fairy  Ruler  no  older  and  no  more 
"  grown  up  "  than  the  other  three.  She  would  laugh 
and  romp  with  them  in  regular  girlish  fashion,  yet 
there  was  an  air  of  quiet  dignity  about  Ozma,  even  in 
her  merriest  moods,  that,  in  a  manner,  distinguished 
her  from  the  others.  The  three  girls  loved  her 
devotedly,  but  they  were  never  able  to  quite  forget 
that  Ozma  was  the  Royal  Ruler  of  the  wonderful  fairy- 
land of  Oz,  and  by  birth  belonged  to  a  powerful  race. 

Ozma's  palace  stood  in  the  center  of  a  delightful 
and  extensive  garden,  where  splendid  trees  and 
flowering  shrubs  and  statuary  and  fountains 
abounded.  One  could  walk  for  hours  in  this  fascinat- 
ing park  and  see  something  interesting  at  every  step. 
In  one  place  was  an  aquarium,  where  strange  and 
beautiful  fish  swam;  at  another  spot  all  the  birds  of 
the  air  gathered  daily  to  a  great  feast  which  Ozma's 
servants  provided  for  them,  and  were  so  fearless  of 
harm  that  they  would  alight  upon  one's  shoulders  and 
eat  from  one's  hand.  There  was  also  the  Fountain  of 
the  Water  of  Oblivion,  but  it  was  dangerous  to  drink 

of  this  water,  because  it  made  one  forget  everything 

242 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


he  had  ever  before  known,  even  to  his  own  name,  and 
therefore  Ozma  had  placed  a  sign  of  warning  upon  the 
fountain.  But  there  were  also  fountains  that  were 
delightfully  perfumed,  and  fountains  of  delicious  nec- 
tar, cool  and  richly  flavored,  where  all  were  welcome 
to  refresh  themselves. 

Around  the  palace  grounds  was  a  great  wall,  thickly 
encrusted  with  glittering  emeralds,  but  the  gates  stood 
open  and  no  one  was  forbidden  entrance.  On  holidays 
the  people  of  the  Emerald  City  often  took  their  chil- 
dren to  see  the  wonders  of  Ozma's  gardens,  and  even 
entered  the  Eoyal  Palace,  if  they  felt  so  inclined,  for 
they  knew  that  they  and  their  Ruler  were  friends,  and 
that  Ozma  delighted  to  give  them  pleasure. 

When  all  this  is  considered,  you  will  not  be  surprised 
that  the  people  throughout  the  Land  of  Oz,  as  well  as 
Ozma's  most  intimate  friends  and  her  royal  courtiers, 
were  eager  to  celebrate  her  birthday,  and  made  prepa- 
rations for  the  festival  weeks  in  advance.  All  the  brass 
bands  practiced  their  nicest  tunes,  for  they  were  to 
march  in  the  numerous  processions  to  be  made  in  the 
Winkie  Country,  the  Gillikin  Country,  the  Munchkin 
Country  and  the  Quadling  Coimtry,  as  well  as  in  the 
Emerald  City.  Not  all  the  people  could  go  to  con 
gratulate  their  Ruler,  but  all  could  celebrate  her  birth* 

244 


Chapter  Twenty -'Two 


day,  in  one  way  or  another,  however  far  distant  from 
her  palace  they  might  be.  Every  home  and  building 
throughout  the  Land  of  Oz  was  to  be  decorated  with 
banners  and  bunting,  and  there  were  to  be  games,  and 
plays,  and  a  general  good  time  for  every  one. 

It  was  Ozma's  custom  on  her  birthday  to  give  a 
grand  feast  at  the  palace,  to  which  all  her  closest 
friends  were  invited.  It  was  a  queerly  assorted  com- 
pany, indeed,  for  there  are  more  quaint  and  unusual 
characters  in  Oz  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
Ozma  was  more  interested  in  unusual  people  than  in 
ordinary  ones  —  just  as  you  and  I  are. 

On  this  especial  birthday  of  the  lovely  girl  Euler,  a 
long  table  was  set  in  the  royal  Banquet  Hall  of  the 
palace,  at  which  were  place-cards  for  the  invited 
guests,  and  at  one  end  of  the  great  room  was  a  smaller 
table,  not  so  high,  for  Ozma's  animal  friends,  whom 
she  never  forgot,  and  at  the  other  end  was  a  big  table 
where  all  of  the  birthday  gifts  were  to  be  arranged. 

When  the  guests  arrived,  they  placed  their  gifts  on 
this  table  and  then  found  their  places  at  the  banquet 
table.  And,  after  the  guests  were  all  placed,  the  ani- 
mals entered  in  a  solemn  procession  and  were  placed 
at  their  table  by  Jellia  Jamb.  Then,  while  an  orches- 
tra hidden  by  a  bank  of  roses  and  ferns  played  a  march 

245 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


composed  for  the  occasion,  the  Royal  Ozma  entered 
the  Banquet  Hall,  attended  by  her  Maids  of  Honor, 
and  took  her  seat  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

She  was  greeted  by  a  cheer  from  all  the  assembled 
company,  the  animals  adding  their  roars  and  growls 
and  barks  and  mewing  and  cackling  to  swell  the  glad 
tumult,  and  then  all  seated  themselves  at  their  tables. 

At  Ozma's  right  sat  the  famous  Scarecrow  of  Oz, 
whose  straw-stuif ed  body  was  not  beautiful,  but  whose 
happy  nature  and  shrewd  wit  had  made  him  a  general 
favorite.  On  the  left  of  the  Euler  was  placed  the  Tin 
Woodman,  whose  metal  body  had  been  brightly  pol- 
ished for  this  event.  The  Tin  Woodman  was  the  Em- 
peror of  the  Winkie  Country  and  one  of  the  most 
important  persons  in  Oz. 

Next  to  the  Scarecrow,  Dorothy  was  seated,  and  next 
to  her  was  Tik-Tok,  the  Clockwork  Man,  who  had  been 
wound  up  as  tightly  as  his  clockwork  would  permit,  so 
he  wouldn't  interrupt  the  festivities  by  running  down. 
Then  came  Aunt  Em  and  Uncle  Henry,  Dorothy's  own 
relations,  two  kindly  old  people  who  had  a  cozy  home 
in  the  Emerald  City  and  were  very  happy  and  con- 
tented there.  Then  Betsy  Bobbin  was  seated,  and  next 
to  her  the  droll  and  delightful  Shaggy  Man,  who  was  a 
favorite  wherever  he  went. 

248 


Chapter  Twenty-Two 


On  the  other  side  of  the  table,  opposite  the  Tin 
Woodman  was  placed  Trot,  and  next  to  her,  Cap'n  Bill. 
Then  was  seated  Button  Bright  and  Ojo  the  Lucky, 
and  Dr.  Pipt  and  his  good  wife  Margalot,  and  the 
astonishing  Frogman,  who  had  come  from  the  Yip 
country  to  be  present  at  Ozma's  birthday  feast. 

At  the  foot  of  the  table,  facing  Ozma,  was  seated  the 
queenly  Glinda,  the  good  Sorceress  of  Oz,  for  this  was 
really  the  place  of  honor  next  to  the  head  of  the  table 
where  Ozma  herself  sat.  On  Glinda's  right  was  the 
Little  Wizard  of  Oz,  who  owed  to  Glinda  all  of  the 
magical  arts  he  knew.  Then  came  Jinjur,  a  pretty 
girl  farmer  of  whom  Ozma  and  Dorothy  were  quite 
fond.  The  adjoining  seat  was  occupied  by  the  Tin 
Soldier,  and  next  to  him  was  Professor  H.  M.  Woggle- 
bug,  T.E.,  of  the  Eoyal  Athletic  College. 

On  Glinda^s  left  was  placed  the  jolly  Patchwork 
Girl,  who  was  a  little  afraid  of  the  Sorceress  and  so 
was  likely  to  behave  herself  pretty  well.  The  Shaggy 
Man's  brother  was  beside  the  Patchwork  Girl,  and 
then  came  that  interesting  personage,  Jack  Pumpkin- 
head,  who  had  grown  a  splendid  big  pumpkin  for  a 
new  head  to  be  worn  on  Ozma's  birthday,  and  had 
carved  a  face  on  it  that  was  even  jollier  in  expression 
than  the  one  he  had  last  worn.    New  heads  were  not 

249 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


■unusual  with  Jack,  for  the  pumpkins  did  not  keep 
long,  and  when  the  seeds  —  which  served  him  as 
brains  —  began  to  get  soft  and  mushy,  he  realized  his 
head  would  soon  spoil,  and  so  he  procured  a  new  one 
from  his  great  field  of  pumpkins  —  grown  by  him  so 
that  he  need  never  lack  a  head. 

You  will  have  noticed  that  the  company  at  Ozma's 
banquet  table  was  somewhat  mixed,  but  every  one 
invited  was  a  tried  and  trusted  friend  of  the  girl 
Ruler,  and  their  presence  made  her  quite  happy. 

No  sooner  had  Ozma  seated  herself,  with  her  back 
to  the  birthday  table,  than  she  noticed  that  all  present 
were  eyeing  with  curiosity  and  pleasure  something 
behind  her,  for  the  gorgeous  Magic  Flower  was  bloom- 
ing gloriously  and  the  mammotH  blossoms  that  quickly 
succeeded  one  another  on  tlie  plant  were  beautiful  to 
view  and  filled  the  entire  room  with  their  delicate 
fragrance.  Ozma  wanted  to  look,  too,  to  see  what  all 
were  staring  at,  but  she  controlled  her  curiosity  be- 
cause it  was  not  proper  that  she  should  yet  view  her 
birthday  gifts. 

So  the  sweet  and  lovely  Ruler  devoted  herself  to 
her  guests,  several  of  whom,  as  the  Sorcerer,  the  Tin 
Woodman,  the  Patchwork  Girl,  Tik-Tok,  Jack  Pump- 
kinhead  and  the  Tin  Soldier,  never  ate  anything  but 

250 


Chapter  Twenty-^Two 


sat  very  politely  in  their  places  and  tried  to  entertain 
those  of  the  guests  who  did  eat. 

And,  at  the  animal  table,  there  was  another  inter- 
esting group,  consisting  of  the  Cowardly  Lion,  the 
Hungry  Tiger,  Toto — Dorothy's  little  shaggy  black  dog 
— Hank  the  Mule,  the  Pink  Kitten,  the  Wooden  Saw- 
horse,  the  Yellow  Hen,  and  the  Glass  Cat.  All  of  these 
had  good  appetites  except  the  Sawhorse  and  the  Glass 
Cat,  and  each  was  given  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  food- 
it  liked  best. 

Finally,  when  the  banquet  was  nearly  over  and  the 
ice-cream  was  to  be  served,  four  servants  entered 
bearing  a  huge  cake,  all  frosted  and  decorated  with 
candy  flowers.  Around  the  edge  of  the  cake  was  a 
row  of  lighted  candles,  and  in  the  center  were  raised 
candy  letters  that  spelled  the  words: 

OZMA'S 

Birthday  Cake 

from 

Dorothy  and  the  Wizard 

"  Oh,  how  beautiful!  "  cried  Ozma,  greatly  delighted, 
and  Dorothy  said  eagerly:  "Now  you  must  cut  the 
cake,  Ozma,  and  each  of  us  will  eat  a  piece  with  our 
ice-cream.'* 

251 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


Jellia  Jamb  brought  a  large  golden  knife  with  a 
jeweled  handle,  and  Ozma  stood  up  in  her  place  and 
attempted  to  cut  the  cake.  But  as  soon  as  the  frost- 
ing in  the  center  broke  under  the  pressure  of  the  knife 
there  leaped  from  the  cake  a  tiny  monkey  three 
inches  high,  and  he  was  followed  by  another  and  an- 
other, until  twelve  monkeys  stood  on  the  tablecloth 
and  bowed  low  to  Ozma. 

"  Congratulations  to  our  gracious  Ruler! "  they  ex- 
claimed in  a  chorus,  and  then  they  began  a  dance,  so 
droll  and  amusing  that  all  the  company  roared  with 
laughter  and  even  Ozma  joined  in  the  merriment. 
But  after  the  dance  the  monkeys  performed  some 
wonderful  acrobatic  feats,  and  then  they  ran  to  the 
hollow  of  the  cake  and  took  out  some  band  instru- 
ments of  burnished  gold — cornets,  horns,  drums,  and 
the  like — and  forming  into  a  procession  the  monkeys 
marched  up  and  down  the  table  playing  a  jolly  tune 
with  the  ease  of  skilled  musicians. 

Dorothy  was  delighted  with  the  success  of  her  "  Sur- 
prise Cake,"  and  after  the  monkeys  had  finished  their 
performance,  the  banquet  came  to  an  end. 

Now  was  the  time  for  Ozma  to  see  her  other  pres- 
ents, so  Glinda  the  Good  rose  and,  taking  the  girl 
Ruler  by  her  hand,  led  her  to  the  table  where  all  her 

252 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


gifts  were  placed  in  magnificent  array.  The  Magic 
Flower  of  course  attracted  her  attention  first,  and  Trot 
had  to  tell  her  the  whole  story  of  their  adventures  in 
getting  it.  The  little  girl  did  not  forget  to  give  due 
credit  to  the  Glass  Cat  and  the  little  Wizard,  but  it 
was  really  Cap'n  Bill  who  bravely  carried  the  golden 
flowerpot  away  from  the  enchanted  Isle. 

Ozma  thanked  them  all,  and  said  she  would  place 
the  Magic  Flower  in  her  boudoir  where  she  might 
enjoy  its  beauty  and  fragrance  continually.  But  now 
she  discovered  the  marvelous  gown  w^oven  by  Glinda 
and  her  maidens  from  strands  drawn  from  pure  emer- 
alds, and  being  a  girl  who  loved  pretty  clothes,  Ozma's 
ecstasy  at  being  presented  with  this  exquisite  gown 
may  well  be  imagined.  She  could  hardly  wait  to  put 
it  on,  but  the  table  was  loaded  with  other  pretty  gifts 
and  the  night  was  far  spent  before  the  happy  girl 
Ruler  had  examined  all  her  presents  and  thanked 
those  who  had  lovingly  donated  them. 


254 


The  Fountain  of  Oblivion 


-^P 


l^d 


y 


/',  J 


'Ih 


^  V 


\ 


^Y\ 


CHAPTER  23 


The  morning  after  the  birth- 
day fete,  as  the  Wizard  and 
Dorothy  were  walking  in  the 
grounds  of  the  palace,  Ozma 
came  out  and  joined  them, 
saying: 

"  I  want  to  hear  more  of 
your  adventures  in  the  Forest 
of  Gugu,  and  how  you  were 
able  to  get  those  dear  little 
monkeys  to  use  in  Dorothy's 
Surprise  Cake.'* 

So  they  sat  down  on  a  mar- 

255 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


ble  bench  near  to  the  fountain  of  the  Water  of  Obliv- 
ion, and  between  them  Dorothy  and  the  Wizard 
related  their  adventures. 

"I  was  dreadfully  fussy  while  I  was  a  woolly 
lamb,"  said  Dorothy,  "for  it  didn't  feel  good,  a  bit. 
And  I  wasn't  quite  sure,  you  know,  that  I'd  ever  get 
to  be  a  girl  again." 

"  You  might  have  been  a  woolly  lamb  yet,  if  I 
hadn't  happened  to  have  discovered  that  Magic  Trans- 
formation Word,"  declared  the  Wizard. 

"  But  what  became  of  the  walnut  and  the  hickory- 
nut  into  which  you  transformed  those  dreadful  beast 
magicians'?"  inquired  Ozma. 

"  Why,  I'd  almost  forgotten  them,"  was  the  reply; 
"  but  I  believe  they  are  still  here  in  my  pocket." 

Then  he  searched  in  his  pockets  and  brought  out 
the  two  nuts  and  showed  them  to  her. 

Ozma  regarded  them  thoughtfully. 

"  It  isn't  right  to  leave  any  living  creatures  in  such 
helpless  forms,"  said  she.  "  I  think.  Wizard,  you 
ought  to  transform  them  into  their  natural  shapes 
again." 

"  But  I  don't  know  what  their  natural  shapes  are," 
he  objected,  "  for  of  course  the  forms  of  mixed  ani- 
mals which  they  had  assumed  were  not  natural  to 

256 


Chapter  Twenty-Three 


them.  And  you  must  not  forget,  Ozma,  that  their 
natures  were  cruel  and  mischievous,  so  if  I  bring 
them  back  to  life  they  might  cause  us  a  great  deal 
of  trouble." 

"  Nevertheless,"  said  the  Ruler  of  Oz,  "  we  must 
free  them  from  their  present  enchantments.  When 
you  restore  them  to  their  natural  forms  we  will  dis- 
cover who  they  really  are,  and  surely  we  need  not 
fear  any  two  people,  even  though  they  prove  to  be 
magicians  and  our  enemies." 

"I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  protested  the  Wizard, 
with  a  shake  of  his  bald  head.  "  The  one  bit  of  magic 
I  robbed  them  of  —  which  was  the  word  of  transforma- 
tion—  is  so  simple,  yet  so  powerful,  that  neither 
Glinda  nor  I  can  equal  it.  It  isn't  all  in  the  word, 
you  know,  it's  the  way  the  word  is  pronounced.  So 
if  the  two  strange  magicians  have  other  magic  of  the 
same  sort,  they  might  prove  very  dangerous  to  us,  if 
we  liberated  them." 

"  Fve  an  idea!"  exclaimed  Dorothy.  "Pm  no  wiz- 
ard, and  no  fairy,  but  if  you  do  as  I  say,  we  needn't 
fear  these  people  at  all." 

"  What  is  your  thought,  my  dear?  "  asked  Ozma. 

"  Well,"  replied  the  girl,  "  here  is  this  fountain  of 
the  Water  of  Oblivion,  and  that's  what  put  the  notion 

257 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


into  my  head.  When  the  Wizard  speaks  that  ter'ble 
word  that  will  change  'em  back  to  their  real  forms,  he 
<3an  make  'em  dreadful  thirsty,  too,  and  we'll  put  a 
cup  right  here  by  the  fountain,  so  it'll  be  handy.  Then 
they'll  drink  the  water  and  forget  all  the  magic  they 
ever  knew  —  and  everything  else,  too." 

"  That's  not  a  bad  idea,"  said  the  Wizard,  looking 
at  Dorothy  approvingly. 

"  It's  a  very  good  idea,"  declared  Ozma.  "  Run  for 
a  cup,  Dorothy." 

So  Dorothy  ran  to  get  a  cup,  and  while  she  was 
gone  the  Wizard  said: 

"  I  don't  know  whether  the  real  forms  of  these 
magicians  are  those  of  men  or  beasts.  If  they're 
beasts,  they  would  not  drink  from  a  cup  but  might 
attack  us  at  once  and  drink  afterward.  So  it  might 
be  safer  for  us  to  have  the  Cowardly  Lion  and  the 
Hungry  Tiger  here  to  protect  us  if  necessary." 

Ozma  drew  out  a  silver  whistle  which  was  attached 
to  a  slender  gold  chain  and  blew  upon  the  whistle 
two  shrill  blasts.  The  sound,  though  not  harsh,  was 
very  penetrating,  and  as  soon  as  it  reached  the  ears 
of  the  Cowardly  Lion  and  the  Hungry  Tiger,  the  two 
huge  beasts  quickly  came  bounding  toward  them. 
Ozma  explained  to  them  what  the  Wizard  was  about 

258 


Chapter  Twenty-Three 


to  do,  and  told  them  to  keep  quiet  unless  danger 
threatened.  So  the  two  powerful  guardians  of  the 
Ruler  of  Oz  crouched  beside  the  fountain  and  waited. 
Dorothy  returned  and  set  the  cup  on  the  edge  of 
the  fountain.    Then  the  Wizard  placed  the  hickory- 


nut  beside  the  fountain  and  said  in  a  solemn  voice: 
"  I  want  you  to  resume  your  natural  form,  and  to 

be  very  thirsty  —  Pyrzqxgl!" 
In  an  instant  there  appeared,  in  the  place  of  the 

hickory-nut,  the  form  of  Kiki  Aru,  the  Hyup  boy.    He 

259 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


seemed  bewildered,  at  first,  as  if  trying  to  remember 
what  had  happened  to  him  and  why  he  was  in  this 
strange  place.  But  he  was  facing  the  fountain,  and 
the  bubbling  water  reminded  him  that  he  was  thirsty. 
Without  noticing  Ozma,  the  Wizard  and  Dorothy,  who 
were  behind  him,  he  picked  up  the  cup,  filled  it  with 
the  Water  of  Oblivion,  and  drank  it  to  the  last  drop. 

He  was  now  no  longer  thirsty,  but  he  felt  more  be- 
wildered than  ever,  for  now  he  could  remember  noth- 
ing at  all  —  not  even  his  name  or  where  he  came 
from.  He  looked  around  the  beautiful  garden  with 
a  pleased  expression,  and  then,  turning,  he  beheld 
Ozma  and  the  Wizard  and  Dorothy  regarding  him  cur- 
iously and  the  two  great  beasts  crouching  behind  them. 

Kiki  Aru  did  not  know  who  they  were,  but  he 
thought  Ozma  very  lovely  and  Dorothy  very  pleasant. 
So  he  smiled  at  them  —  the  same  innocent,  happy 
smile  that  a  baby  might  have  indulged  in,  and  that 
pleased  Dorothy,  who  seized  his  hand  and  led  him  to 
a  seat  beside  her  on  the  bench. 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  were  a  dreadful  magician," 
she  exclaimed,  "  and  you're  only  a  boy! " 

"What  is  a  magician?"  he  asked,  "and  what  is  a 
boy?  " 

"Don't  you  know?"  inquired  the  girl. 

260 


Chapter  Twenty-'Three 

Kiki  shook  his  head.    Then  he  laughed. 
"  I  do  not  seem  to  know  anything,"  he  replied. 
"It's  very  curious,"  remarked  the  Wizard.     "He 
wears  the  dress  of  the  Munchkins,  so  he  must  have 


lived  at  one  time  in  the  Munchkin  Country.     Of 

course  the  boy  can  tell  us  nothing  of  his  history  or 

his  family,  for  he  has  forgotten  all  that  he  ever  knew." 

"  He  seems  a  nice  boy,  now  that  all  the  wickedness 

261 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


has  gone  from  him,"  said  Ozma.  "So  we  will  keep 
him  here  with  us  and  teach  him  our  ways  —  to  be 
true  and  considerate  of  others." 

"  Why,  in  that  case,  it's  lucky  for  him  he  drank  the 
Water  of  Oblivion,"  said  Dorothy. 

"  It  is  indeed,"  agreed  the  Wizard.  "  But  the  remark- 
able thing,  to  me,  is  how  such  a  young  boy  ever 
learned  the  secret  of  the  Magic  Word  of  Transforma- 
tion. Perhaps  his  companion,  who  is  at  present  this 
walnut,  was  the  real  magician,  although  I  seem  to 
remember  that  it  was  this  boy  in  the  beast's  form 
who  whispered  the  Magic  Word  into  the  hollow  tree, 
where  I  overheard  it." 

"  Well,  we  will  soon  know  who  the  other  is,"  sug- 
gested Ozma.  "  He  may  prove  to  be  another  Munch- 
kin  boy." 

The  Wizard  placed  the  walnut  near  the  fountain 
and  said,  as  slowly  and  solemnly  as  before: 

"I  want  you  to  resume  your  natural  form,  and  to 
be  very  thirsty  —  Pyrzqxgl!" 

Then  the  walnut  disappeared  and  Euggedo  the 
Nome  stood  in  its  place.  He  also  was  facing  the 
fountain,  and  he  reached  for  the  cup,  filled  it,  and 
was  about  to  drink  when  Dorothy  exclaimed: 

"Why,  it's  the  old  Nome  King! " 

262 


Chapter  Twenty'-Three 

Ruggedo  swung  around  and  faced  them,  the  cup 
still  in  his  hand. 

"  Yes,"  he  said  in  an  angry  voice,  "  it's  the  old  Nome 
King,  and  Fm  going  to  conquer  all  Oz  and  be  re- 


venged on  you  for  kicking  me  out  of  my  throne."  He 
looked  around  a  moment,  and  then  continued:  "  There 
isn't  an  egg  in  sight,  and  I'm  stronger  than  all  of  you 

people  put  together!    I  don't  know  how  I  came  here, 

263 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


but  I'm  going  to  fight  the  fight  of  my  life  —  and  I'll 
win! " 

His  long  white  hair  and  beard  waved  in  the  breeze; 
his  eyes  flashed  hate  and  vengeance,  and  so  astonished 
and  shocked  were  they  by  the  sudden  appearance  of 
this  old  enemy  of  the  Oz  people  that  they  could  only 
stare  at  him  in  silence  and  shrink  away  from  his 
wild  glare. 

Ruggedo  laughed.  He  drank  the  water,  threw  the 
cup  on  the  ground  and  said  fiercely: 

"And  now  —  and  now  —  and  —  " 

His  voice  grew  gentle.  He  rubbed  his  forehead 
with  a  puzzled  air  and  stroked  his  long  beard. 

"What  was  I  going  to  say?"  he  asked,  pleadingly. 

"Don't  you  remember?"  said  the  Wizard. 

"No;  I've  forgotten." 

"  Who  are  you?  "  asked  Dorothy. 

He  tried  to  think.  "I  —  I'm  sure  I  don't  know," 
he  stammered. 

"  Don't  you  know  who  we  are,  either?  "  questioned 
the  girl. 

"  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea,"  said  the  Nome. 

"Tell  us  who  this  Munchkin  boy  is,"  suggested 
Ozma. 

Ruggedo  looked  at  the  boy  and  shook  his  head. 

264 


Chapter  Twenty-Three 


"  He's  a  stranger  to  me.  You  are  all  strangers.  I 
' —  I'm  a  stranger  to  myself,"  he  said. 

Then  he  patted  the  Lion's  head  and  murmured, 
■'*  Good  doggie! "  and  the  Lion  growled  indignantly. 


"What  shall  we  do  with  him?"  asked  the  Wizard, 
perplexed. 

"  Once  before  the  wicked  old  Nome  came  here  to 

conquer  us,  and  then,  as  now,  he  drank  of  the  Water 

of  Oblivion  and  became  harmless.    But  we  sent  him 

back  to  the  Nome  Kingdom,  where  he  soon  learned 

the  old  evil  ways  again." 

265 


The  Magic  of  Oz 


"  For  that  reason,"  said  Ozma,  we  must  find  a  place 
for  Mm  in  the  Land  of  Oz,  and  keep  him  here.  For 
here  he  can  learn  no  evil  and  will  always  be  as  inno- 
cent of  guile  as  our  own  people." 

And  so  the  wandering  ex-King  of  the  Nomes  found 
a  new  home,  a  peaceful  and  happy  home,  where  he 
was  quite  content  and  passed  his  days  in  innocent 
enjoyment. 


The  Oz  Books 

BY 

L.  FRANK  BAUM 

"Royal  Historian  of  Oz" 


The  Wizard  of  Oz 

[Originally  published  as  The  Wonderful  Wizard  of  Oz] 

It  is  in  this  book  that  Oz  is  "discovered."  A  little  Kansas  girl- 
Dorothy  Gale— is  carried  in  her  house  to  Oz  when  a  cyclone  whisks  it  through 
the  sky.  As  the  house  lands  in  the  Munchkin  Country  (one  of  the  four  great 
countries  of  Oz)  it  destroys  a  wicked  witch  and  sends  Dorothy  off  on  her  first 
adventure  in  Oz.  She  finds  the  Scarecrow,  meets  the  Tin  Woodman  and  the 
Cowardly  Lion,  melts  a  second  wicked  witch  with  a  pail  of  water  and  finds  her 
way  home.  Since  this  book  appeared  a  half -century  ago,  we  have  learned  many 
marvelous  things  about  the  Land  of  Oz. 


The  Land  of  Oz 

[Originally  published  as  The  Marvelous  Land  of  Oz] 

This  sequel  to  The  Wizard  of  Oz  deals  entirely  with  the  early 
history  of  Oz.  No  one  from  the  United  States  or  any  other  part  of  the  "great 
outside  world"  appears  in  it.  It  takes  its  readers  on  a  series  of  incredible  adven- 
tures with  Tip,  a  small  boy  who  runs  away  from  old  Mombi,  the  witch,  taking 
with  him  Jack  Pumpkinhead  and  the  wooden  Saw-Horse.  The  Scarecrow  is  King 
of  the  Emerald  City  until  he.  Tip,  Jack,  and  the  Tin  Woodman  are  forced  to 
flee  the  royal  palace  when  it  is  invaded  by  General  Jinjur  and  her  army  of  re- 
belling girls.  The  Land  of  Oz  ends  with  an  amazing  surprise,  and  from  that 
moment  on  Ozma  is  princess  of  all  Oz. 

267 


Ozma  of  Oz 

r  ew  of  the  Oz  books  are  as  crowded  with  exciting  Oz  happen- 
ings as  this  one.  Not  only  does  it  bring  Dorothy  back  to  Oz  on  her  second  visit, 
but  it  introduces  Dorothy  to  Ozma,  relates  Ozma's  first  important  adventure, 
and  introduces  for  the  first  time  such  famous  Oz  characters  as  Tik-Tok,  the  me- 
chanical man,  Billina  the  hen,  the  Hungry  Tiger,  and— f/?e  Nome  King!  Most 
of  the  adventures  in  this  book  take  place  outside  Oz,  in  the  Land  of  Ev  and 
the  Nome  Kingdom.  Scarcely  a  page  fails  to  quiver  with  excitement,  magic  and 
adventure. 


Dorothy  and  the  Wizard  m  Oz 

\J{  course,  everyone  always  predicted  it  would  happen!  And  in 
this  book  it  does— the  Wizard  comes  back  to  Oz  to  stay.  Best  of  all,  he  comes 
with  Dorothy,  who  is  having  adventure  number  three  that  leads  her  to  Oz,  this 
time  via  a  California  earthquake.  In  this  book  we  meet  Dorothy's  pink  kitten, 
Eureka,  whose  manners  need  adjusting  badly,  and  two  good  friends  who  we 
are  sorry  did  not  remain  in  Oz— Jim  the  cabhorse,  and  Zeb,  Dorothy's  young 
cousin,  who  works  on  a  ranch  as  a  hired  boy. 


The  Road  to  Oz 


We  like  to  think  of  this  volume  as  "The  Party  Book  of  Oz." 
Almost  everyone  loves  a  party,  and  when  Ozma  has  a  birthday  party  with 
notables  from  every  part  of  fairyland  attending— well!  It  is  just  like  attending 
Ozma's  party  in  person.  You  meet  the  famous  of  Oz,  and  lots  of  others,  such  as 
Queen  Zixi  of  Ix,  John  Dough,  Chick  the  Cherub,  the  Queen  of  Merryland,  Para 
Bruin  the  rubber  bear  and— best  of  all— Santa  Claus  himself!  Of  course  there 
are  lots  of  adventures  on  that  famous  road  to  Oz  before  the  party,  during  which 
Dorothy,  on  her  way  to  Oz  for  the  fourth  time,  meets  such  heart-warming  char- 
acters as  the  Shaggy  Man,  Button-Bright,  and  lovely  Polychrome,  daughter  of 
the  rainbow. 

268 


The  Emerald  City  of  Oz 

IT  ere  is  a  "double"  story  of  Oz.  While  Dorothv,  her  Aunt  Em 
and  Uncle  Henry  experience  the  events  that  lead  to  their  going  to  Oz  to  make 
their  home  in  the  Emerald  City,  the  wicked  Nome  King  is  plotting  to  conquer 
Oz  and  enslave  its  people.  Later  we  go  with  Dorothy  and  her  friends  in  the 
Red  Wagon  on  a  grand  tour  of  Oz  that  is  simply  packed  with  excitement  and 
events.  While  this  transpires,  we  learn  also  of  the  Nome  King's  elaborate  prepara- 
tions to  conquer  Oz.  As  Dorothy  and  her  friends  return  to  the  Emerald  City, 
the  Nome  King  and  his  hordes  of  warriors  are  about  to  invade  it.  How  Oz  is 
saved  is  an  ending  that  will  amaze  and  delight  you. 


The  Patchwork  Girl  of  Oz 


rlere,  the  Patchwork  Girl  is  brought  to  life  by  Dr.  Pipt's  magic 
Powder  of  Life.  From  that  moment  on  the  action  never  slows  down  in  this 
exciting  book.  It  tells  of  Ojo's  quest  for  the  strange  ingredients  necessary  to 
brew  a  magic  liquid  that  will  release  his  Unk  Nunkie  from  a  spell— the  spell 
cast  by  the  Liquid  of  Petrefaction,  which  has  turned  him  into  a  marble  statue. 
In  addition  to  the  Patchwork  Girl,  Ojo  and  Unk  Nunkie,  this  book  introduces 
those  famous  Oz  creatures,  the  Woozy,  and  Bungle  the  glass  cat.  Oz  certainlv 
has  become  a  merrier,  happier  land  since  the  Patchwork  Girl  came  to  life,  and 
this  is  the  book  that  tells  how  Scraps  came  to  be  made,  how  she  was  brought 
to  life,  and  all  about  her  early  adventures. 


Tik-Tok  of  Oz 


r  or  the  second  time  a  little  girl  from  the  United  States  comes 
to  Oz.  Betsy  Bobbin  is  shipwrecked  in  the  Nonestic  Ocean  with  her  friend  Hank 
the  mule.  The  two  drift  to  shore  in  the  Rose  Kingdom  on  a  fragment  of  wreck- 
age. Betsy  meets  the  Shaggy  Man  and  accompanies  him  to  the  Nome  Kingdom, 
where  Shaggy  hopes  to  release  his  brother,  a  prisoner  of  the  Nome  King.  On 

269 


their  way  to  the  Nome  Kingdom,  one  fascinating  adventure  follows  another. 
They  meet  Queen  Ann  Soforth  of  Oogaboo  and  her  army,  and  lovely  Poly- 
chrome, who  had  lost  her  rainbow  again;  they  rescue  Tik-Tok  from  a  well;  and 
are  dropped  through  a  Hollow  Tube  to  the  other  side  of  the  world  where  they 
meet  Quox,  the  dragon.  You'll  find  it  one  of  the  most  exciting  of  all  the  Oz  books. 


The  Scarecrow  of  Oz 

1  his  is  the  Oz  book  which  L.  Frank  Baum  considered  his  best. 
It  starts  quietly  enough  with  Trot  and  Cap'n  Bill  rowing  along  a  shore  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  to  visit  one  of  the  many  caves  near  their  home  on  the  California 
coast.  Suddenly,  a  mighty  whirlpool  engulfs  them.  The  old  sailorman  and  the 
little  girl  are  miraculously  saved  and  regain  consciousness  to  find  themselves  in 
a  sea  cavern.  (To  this  day,  Trot  asserts  she  felt  mermaid  arms  about  her  during 
those  terrible  moments  under  water.)  From  here  on,  one  perilous  adventure 
crowds  in  upon  another.  In  Jinxland  they  meet  the  Scarecrow  who  takes  charge 
of  things  once  Cap'n  Bill  is  transformed  into  a  tiny  grasshopper  with  a  wooden 
leg.  An  exciting  royal  reception  greets  the  adventurers  upon  their  return  to  the 
Emerald  City. 


Rmkitink  m  Oz 

X  rince  Inga  of  Pingaree  is  the  boy  hero  of  this  fine  story  of 
peril-filled  adventure  in  the  islands  of  the  Nonestic  Ocean.  King  Rinkitink  pro- 
vides comic  relief,  and  by  the  time  you  reach  the  final  page  you  will  love  this 
fat,  jolly  little  king.  Bilbil  the  goat,  with  his  surly  disposition,  provides  a  fine 
contrast  to  Rinkitink's  merriment  and  Prince  Inga's  bravery  and  courage  in  the 
face  of  danger.  Some  may  say  that  the  three  magic  pearls  are  the  real  heroes 
of  this  story,  but  the  pearls  would  have  been  of  little  use  to  King  Kitticut  and 
Queen  Garee  if  Prince  Inga  hadn't  used  them  wisely  and  courageously. 

270 


Tk  Lost  Princess  of  Oz 

1  alk  about  Button-Bright  getting  lost— Ozrna  is  almost  as  bad! 
This  is  actually  the  second  time  Ozma  has  been  lost.  As  you  know,  once  she  was 
■'lost"  for  many  years.  But  in  this  book  she  is  lost  for  only  a  short  time.  As  soon 
as  it  is  discovered  that  the  ruler  of  Oz  is  lost— and  with  her  all  the  important 
magical  instruments  in  Oz— search  parties,  one  for  each  of  the  four  countries 
of  Oz,  set  out  to  find  her.  We  follow  the  adventures  of  the  party  headed  by 
Dorothy  and  the  Wizard,  who  explore  unknown  parts  of  the  Winkie  Country  in 
search  of  Ozma.  How  Ozma  is  found,  and  where  she  has  been,  will  surprise  you. 
Frogman,  a  new  character,  is  introduced  in  this  book. 


The  Tin  Woodman  of  Oz 


W  oot  the  Wanderer  causes  this  chapter  of  Oz  history  to  transpire. 
When  Woot  wanders  into  the  splendid  tin  castle  of  Nick  Chopper,  the  Tin 
Woodman  and  Emperor  of  the  Winkies,  he  meets  the  Scarecrow,  who  is  visiting 
his  old  friend.  The  Tin  Woodman  tells  Woot  the  story  of  how  he  had  once  been 
a  flesh-and-blood  woodman  in  love  with  a  maiden  named  Nimmie  Aimee.  Woot 
suggests  that  since  the  Tin  Woodman  now  has  a  kind  and  loving  heart,  it  is  his 
duty  to  find  Nimmie  Aimee  and  make  her  Empress  of  the  Winkies.  The  Scare- 
crow agrees,  so  the  three  set  off  to  search  for  the  girl.  No  less  surprising  than  the 
adventures  encountered  on  the  journey  is  Nimmie  Aimee's  reception  of  her 
former  suitor. 


The  Magtc  of  Oz 


Old  Ruggedo,  the  former  Nome  King,  comes  to  Oz  for  the 
second  time,  and  makes  more  trouble  than  he  did  on  his  first  visit.  Ruggedo 
never  gives  up  the  idea  of  conquering  Oz,  and  this  time  he  has  the  advantage 
of  being  in  the  country  without  Ozma's  knowledge.  Also,  he  has  the  magic  and 
somewhat  grudging  help  of  Kiki  Aru,  the  Munchkin  boy  who  is  illegally  prac- 
ticing the  art.  If  you  like  magic,  then  this  is  a  book  for  you.  There's  magic  on 
every  page,  and  everyone  in  the  story  eventually  is  transformed  into  something 

271 


else,  or  bewitched  in  one  way  or  another.  Even  the  wild  animals  in  the  great 
Forest  of  Gugu  do  not  escape. 


Glinda  of  Oz 


1  his  is  the  last  Oz  book  written  by  L.  Frank  Baum.  It  is  one  of 
the  best  in  the  series,  with  Dorothy,  Ozma,  and  Glinda  in  an  adventure  that 
takes  them  to  an  amazing  crystal-domed  city  on  an  enchanted  island.  This  island 
is  situated  in  a  lake  in  the  Gillikin  Country.  Ozma  and  Glinda  are  confronted 
by  powerful  magic  and  determined  enemies.  For  a  time  Dorothy  and  Ozma 
are  prisoners  in  the  crystal-domed  city  which  is  able  to  submerge  below  the 
surface  of  the  lake.  Few  of  the  Oz  books  equal  this  one  in  suspense  and  mys- 
tery— a  story  that  is  truly  "out  of  this  world." 


272 


